i:>'  .5«t 


% 


'k\  A 


iJT- 


in"'    •'^i 


% 


7^: 


.^'•Sv 


frf^jS"^: 


^^^%  A^v^^^r'C- 


;;  :i^- 


'  f 


M 


^  PRINCETON,  N.  J.  "^'' 


Presented  by  Mrs.  Sanford  H.  Smith. 

sec 


Division 

Section 
Ntmiher 


y'A 


V. 


/ 


T    h'e 

GLORY    OF    CHRIST 

A     S 

G  O  DM  A  N 

DISPLAYED,,   . 

1    N 

Three    Difcourfes. 

V  I   z. 

Disc.  I.  A  Survey  of  the  vlfible  Appearances  of  Christ,  as 
God,  before  his  Incarnation  ;  with  fome  Obfervations  on  the 
Texts  of  the  Old  Teftament  applied  to  Christ. 

Disc.  II.  An  Inquiry  into  the  extenfive  Powers  of  the  Human 
Nature  of  Christ  in  its  prefent  glorified  State,  with  feveral 
Teftimonies  annexed. 

Disc.  III.  An  Argument  tracing  out  the  early  Exiftence  of 
the  Human  Soul  of  Christ,  even  before  the  Creation  of 
the  World. 

WITH 

An      APPENDIX, 

CONTAINING 

An  Abridgment  of  Dr.  Thomas  Goodwin's  Dif- 

courfe  of   the  Glories  and  Royalties  of  CHRIST,  in  his  Works  m 
Folio,  Vol.  II.  Book  III. 

By  ISAAC  "^WATTS,  D.  D. 


Matt,  xxviu.  18.    All  Power  is  given  to  me  in  Heaven  and  in  Earth. 

Colof.  iii.  II.    Chrift  is  all  and  in  all. 

Jfohn  viii.  58.    Before  Abraham  was,  I  am. 


BOSTON: 

PRINTED  BY  MANNING  AND  LORING, 

For  DAVID  WEST,  No.  36,  Mari.borou«h-Street. 
^795' 


THE 

PREFACE. 

„«..«..<..«^Ka^v|>>..>,.>..»,. 

vJUR  Lord  Jefus  Chrift  is  the  Author,  the  Foun- 
dation, and  the  glory  of  our  religion.  The  fcrlpture 
teaches  us  to  defcribe  this  bleired  Perfon  two  ways, 
i.  e.  as  a  Man  who  is  one  with  God,  or  as  God  who 
is  one  with  Man. 

He  is  called  fometimes  '  God  with  us.*  Mat.  u 
23.  *  God  manifeft  in  the  flefli.'  i  Tim.  iii.  16.  i.  e. 
God  dwelling  in  our  mortal  nature.  At  other  times 
he  is  defcribed  as  the  '  Man  Chrift  Jefus,  in  whom 
dwelleth  all  the  fulnefs  of  the  Godhead  bodily.* 
1  Tim.  ii.  5.  and  Col.  ii.  9.  A  Man  *  of  the  feed  of 
David  after  the  flcHi,  who  is  God  over  all,  blefTed 
for  evermore.'  Rom.'  ix.  5.  A  Man  whofe  flefli 
Thomas  the  apoftle  faw  and  felt,  and  yet  called  him, 
*  My  Lord  and  my  God.'  John  xx.  27,  28.  Upon 
fuch  fcriptures  as  thefe  my  faith  is  built. 

And  as  it  is  the  moft  general  fentiment  of  the 
Chriftian  world  in  our  age,  fo  1  muft  acknowledge 
it  is  very  evident  to  me,  that  our  blefled  Saviour  is, 
often  reprefented  in  fcripture  as  a  complex  Perfon, 
wherein  God  and  Man  are  united,  fo  as  to  make  up 
one  complex  agent,  one  intelleftual  compound  be- 
ing, God  joined  with  Man,  fo  as  to  become  one 
common  principle  of  aftion  and  paflion.  Chrift 
wrought  miraculous  works,  and  yet  it  is  *  the  Fa- 
ther,' or  God  *  in  him,  who  doth  thefe  works.'  John 
xiv,  10.     The  God  and  the  Man  are  one. 

A  2  And 


IV  PREFACE. 

And  on  this  account  the  *  child  Jefus*  may  bo 
well  called  the  *  mighty  God.'  Ifai.  ix.  6.  And  God 
himfelf  is  faid  to  *  redeem  the  church  with  his  own 
blood.'  Ads  XX.  28.  And  to  '  lay  down  his  life  for 
us.*  I  John  iii.  16.  This  intimate  or  prefent  union 
between  God  and  Chrift  allows  him  to  fay,  John  x. 
38,  '  I  am  in  the  Father,  and  the  Father  in  me/ 
And  ver.  30,   *  I  and  the  Father  are  one.' 

Since  Chrift  Jefus  in  his  perfon  and  his  offices  hath 
fo  large  a  ihare  in  our  holy  religion,  we  cannot  be 
too  well  acquainted  with  his  various  glories.  It  is 
the  ftudy  and  joy  of  angels  to  pry  into  thefe  won- 
ders. I  Pet.  i.  12.  And  it  is  the  duty  of  men  *  to 
grow  in  the  knowledge  of  Chrift'  their  Lord,  their 
God,  and  their  Saviour.  2  Pet.  iii.  18. 

It  is  granted,  that  many  things  relating  to  the 
ever-blefled  Trinity  may  have  heights  and  depths  ia 
them  which  are  unfearchable  by  our  underftandings- 
Though  we  learn  from  fcripture,that  true  and  proper 
Deity  is  afcribed  to  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the 
Holy  Spirit,  and  that  they  are  reprefented  often  in 
fcripture  as  diJiinB  perfonal  agents  ;  yet  after  all  our 
inquiries  and  prayers,  we  may  be  ftill  much  at  a  lofs 
to  defcribe  exadVly  wherein  this  diJiinB  perfonality 
confifts,  and  what  is  the  diftindt  communion  of  each 
of  them  in  the  divine  nature.  We  have  never  yet 
been  able,  with  any  ftrong  evidence  and  clear  cer- 
tainty, precifely  to  adjuft  this  facred  difficulty,  how 
far  they  are  one^  and  how  far  they  are  three.  Several 
fchemes  and  hypothefes  have  been  invented  for  this 
purpofe,  and  the  beft  of  them  falls  fhort  of  folving 
all  queftions  relating  to  this  doftrine  completely  to 
our  fatisfadtion,  though  fome  of  them  are  evidently 
much  more  agreeable  to  fcripture  than  others. 

As  it  is  our  great  happinefs,  that  the  knowledge  of 
any  fuch  particular  fchemes  of  explication  are  not 
neceflary  to  the  falvation  of  men,  fo  neither  are  any 

of 


PREFACE.  V 

of  thofe  different  fchemes  of  the  Trinitj^  at  all  need- 
ful to  our  prefent  inquiries  (;oncerning  that  glory  of 
Chrift,  which  is  the  fubjeft  of  this  Treatife. 

Let  no  humble  Chriftian  therefore  be  jealous  of 
lofing  his  own  form  of  explaining  the  Trinity  by 
reading  thefe  Difcourfes,  nor  let  him  be  afraid  of 
being  led  into  any  particular  human  fchemes  or  ex- 
plications of  that  divine  dodrine.  I  have  fo  far 
laid  them  all  afide  in  this  book,  that  there  is  fcarce 
any  hint  of  any  of  them,  and  that  in  a  very  flight  and 
tranfient  manner. 

The  glories  of  Chrift,  both  in  his  divine  and  hu- 
man nature,  which  are  here  unfolded,  are  not  nec- 
eflarily  confined  to  any  particular  fchemes  or  hy- 
pothcfes  of  the  Trinity.  Ail  that  I  pretend  to 
maintain  here  is,  that  our  blefled  Saviour  mufh  be 
Gody  and  he  muft  be  Man ;  God  and  Man  in  tuoo  dif~ 
iin5i  natures^  and  one  perjon,  i.  e.  one  complex  per- 
fonal  agent.  Thofe  who  believe  this  do6trine  may 
read  thefe  Treatifes  without  danger  or  fear ;  for  I 
would  always  endeavour  to  fearch  out  divine  truth, 
and  promote  the  knowledge  of  Chrifb  (as  far  as  pof- 
fible)  without  offence  to  the  bulk  of  the  Chriftian 
world,  or  any  of  the  truly  pious  and  religious  of 
every  party. 

Thefe  three  Difcourfes  were  written  at  three  dif- 
tant  and  different  times  :  I  hope  therefore  my  read- 
ers will  be  fo  candid  as  to  bear  with  a  fmall  repetition 
of  the  fame  thoughts,  or  with  references  from  one 
Difcourfe  to  another,  though  not  expreffed  in  fo 
regular  a  manner  as  though  I  had  all  three  confhant- 
ly  in  one  view. 

Though  the  order  in  which  thefe  Difcourfes  fland 
be  not  adjufted  according  to  chronology,  j^et  it  is 
fuch  an  order  as  I  thought  moft  proper  to  lead  my 
reader  by  degrees  into  thefe  difcoveries  of  the  glory 
©f  Chrift. 

In 


VI  PREFACE. 

In  the  firft  of  thefe  Difcourfes  I  have  maintained 
the  Godhead  of  Ckriji  in  his  appearances  under  the 
Old  Tejiament.  The  doctrine  itfelf  is  entirely  agree- 
able to  the  common  fentiments  of  all  our  divines, 
and  I  have  confirmed  it  by  fuch  arguments  as  leem 
to  me  mofc  effcdual  and  convincing.  I  perfuade 
myfelf  the  generality  of  my  readers  will  concur  with 
me  in  thefe  fentiments,  though  I  will  not  fay  I  have 
borrowed  my  method  of  argument  and  vindication 
from  any  but  the  facred  writers. 

In  the  fecond  and  third  Difcourfes  perhaps  they 
will  find  fome  things,  which  though  they  are  de- 
rived from  fcripture,  yet  appear  to  be  more  uncom- 
mon, and  which  have  not  been  taken  notice  of  by 
many  authors.  With  regard  to  thefe,  I  beg  leave 
to  make  thefe  few  requells  to  thofe  who  will  feri- 
oufly,  and  with  an  honeft  heart  perufe  what  I  have 
here  written. 

1.  That  they  would  fufFer  themfelves  to  believe 
with  me  that  we  have  not  yet  attained  all  knowK 
edge,  nor  particularly  apprehended  all  thofe  things 
that  m.ay  be  learned  from  the  Bible  concerning  our 
Lord  Jcfus  Chrift  :  and  that  they  would  permit 
themfelves  alfo  to  think  with  me,  that  we  are  all 
fallible  creatures,  and  that  it  is  poffible  for  us  to 
have  been  miftaken  in  fome  points  (at  lead  of  leflcr 
moment)  which  we  have  been  taught  to  believe  be- 
fore we  were  capable  of  fearching  the  word  of  God 
for  ourfelves :  for  the  beft  of  men  who  have  been 
our  teachers  '  know  but  in  part,'  and  therefore  they 
could  '  prophefy'  or  inftrudl  others  '  but  in  part.' 
I  Cor.  xiii.  9.  Though  they  have  fpoken  the 
truth,  yet  perhaps  they  have  not  fpoken  all  the 
truth  which  lies  hid  in  the  holy  fcriptures. 

2.  That  my  readers  would  not  be  ftartlcd  and 
difcompofed  at  any  thing  which  m:iy  feem  new  and 
Ilrange  to  them  at  firfi;  appearance,  nor  be  frighted 

at 


PREFACE.  '  vli 

at  a  fentence,  as  though  herefy  were  In  it,  becaufe 
it  may  differ  a  little  from  the  fentiments  which  they 
have  hitherto  received.  That  very  fame  notion  in 
any  fcience  vvhatfoever,  which  may  perhaps  furprife 
us  at  firft,  by  reading  further  onward  may  become 
plain  and  eafy  and  certain  :  and  I  can  alTure  them, 
that  there  is  not  one  fentence  in  all  thefe  Difcourfes, 
but  what  is  very  confident  with  a  firm  belief  of  the 
Divinity  of  Chrifl,  and  a  jufl:  and  fincere  concern  for 
the  moft  eminent  and  glorious  truths  of  the  gofpel, 
as  they  are  profefled  by  Proteftants  among  us  againfb 
the  Socinian  and  Arian  errors. 

3.  That  they  would  not  raflily  conclude  that 
any  Chriftian  doftrine  is  loft,  or  any  article  of  their 
faith  endangered,  or  the  proper  Deity  of  our  Lord 
Jefus  Chrift  dropped  or  neglefted,  if  they  fliould  be 
led  to  interpret  a  few  texts  of  fcripture  in  another 
manner  than  they  themfelves  have  been  formerly 
ufed  to  explain  them  :  for  it  muft  be  acknowledged, 
that  fome  pious  and  zealous  writers  for  the  truth 
have  muftered  together  out  of  all  the  Bible  what- 
foever  texts  could  poflibly  be  turned  by  art  or  force 
to  fupport  any  one  doftrine  which  they  undertook 
to  defend,  juft  as  ancient  heretics  have  done  to  fup- 
port their  errors.  Now  among  this  great  number  of 
fcriptures,  it  may  be  ealily  fuppofed,  that  there  is 
here  and  there  .one  which  is  not  fo  fit  and  appofite 
to  their  purpofe,  and  which  does  not  carry  in  it  nat- 
urally that  fenfe  which  has  been  impofed  upon  it, 
or  at  leaft  which  does  not  contain  that  force  of  ar- 
gument which  has  been  generally  believed  ;  and  yet 
the  fame  point  of  dodrine  may  remain  unmoveable, 
without  the  help  of  that  particular  text. 

Now,  though  they  have  been  learned  and  wife 
and  pious  men  that  have  ufed  thefe  fcriptures  to 
fupport  fome  particular  dodrine  of  fcripture  or  ar- 
ticle of  faith,  yet  it  is  poflible  they  may  have  been 

miftakea 


Vlli  PRErACt. 

miftakcn  in  the  application  of  them.  Later  days, 
and  the  maturer  age  of  the  world,  have  given  light 
to  man}^  paffiiges  of  the  Bible  which  were  not  well 
underflood  in  the  days  of  the  fathers  :  and  though 
I  read  their  writings  with  fincere  reverence,  yet  not 
%vith  an  abfolutc  fubmiffion  to  their  didates.  The 
fame  doftrines  and  articles  of  faith  which  they  ef- 
poufcd  and  defended  in  their  time,  may  be  ftill  ef- 
poufed  and  defended  with  as  much  zeal  and  fuccefs 
in  our  day  by  fome  new  arguments  brought  to  fup- 
port  them,  though  in  reafon  and  juftice  we  are  con- 
ftrained  to  drop  fome  of  the  old  ones. 

Befides,  there  is  more  honour  done  to  the  caufe 
of  Chriftianity  and  the  gofpcl,  by  building  all  the 
articles  of  it  upon  fuch  fcriptures  only  as  are  firm 
and  unOiaken  to  fupport  them,  than  by  multiplying 
feeble  fhews  and  (hadows  of  defence.  We  expofe 
ourfelyes  and  our  faith  at  once  to  the  infult  and 
ridicule  of  our  adverfaries,  by  perfifting  in  a  miftak- 
en  expofition  of  fcripture,  and  by  maintaining  ev- 
ery colour  or  falfe  appearance  of  argument,  even 
though  it  be  in  the  defence  of  the  moft  important 
truth.  We  ought  to  make  ufe  of  all  the  advan- 
tages of  increafing  light,  nor  continue  in  a  wrong 
application  of  fcriptures  to  fupport  any  point  of  our 
faith  in  oppofition  to  their  moft  open  and  evident 
meaning.  Though  truth  is  infinitely  preferable  to 
error,  yet  men  may  ufe  infufficient  arguments  for 
one  as  well  as  the  other.  And  in  our  days,  1  con- 
ceive a  wife  and  thoughtful  man  will  not  be  charmed 
at  once  with  a  title-page,  merely  becaufc  it  pretends 
to  m-any  hundred  proofs  of  the  Godhead  of  Chrift. 

4.  I  requeft  that  they  would  confult  their  Bible 
with  diligence,  as  I  have  done,  efpecially  in  the 
places  which  I  have  cited,  and  like  honeft  Englifli 
readers  would  look  only  at  the  (enih  as  it  lies  before 
them,  and  neither  confider  nor  care  whether  it  be 

nezu 


PREFACE,  lie 

new  or  o/Jt  fo  It  be  true :  for  he  that  does  this,  is 
much  more  likely  to  be  led  into  the  truth  than  a 
greater  fcholar,  full  of  his  own  notions  which  he  has 
learned  in  the  fchools,  who  brings  his  own  opinions 
always  to  dired:  and  determine  his  own  interpreta- 
tion of  fcripture  whenfoever  he  reads  it ;  and  thus 
he  interprets  every  text,  not  fo  much  according  to 
the  plain,  obvious,  and  eafy  (enle  of  it,  and  in  cor- 
refpondence  with  the  context,  as  he  does  in  corref- 
pondcnce  with  his  own  opinions  and  his  learned 
fchemes. 

5.  That  they  would  fuffer  themfelves  to  yield  to 
truth  wherefoever  they  find  it,  and  imagine  that  the 
lofs  of  an  old  opinion  by  the  force  and  evidence  of 
truth  is  a  vi<^ory  gained  over  error,  and  an  honour- 
able advancement  in  their  own  knowledge  in  the 
thirigs  of  God. 

6.  That  they  would  apply  themfelves  with  fincere 
diligence  to  contider  the  evidence  of  fcripture  for 
any  of  the  opinions  that  I  have  propofed  or  main- 
tained, rather  than  labour  to  invent  objedions  as 
fafl  as  ever  they  can  againfl  it,  as  though  they  knew 
it  was  falfe  beforehand  ;  for  if  we  read  a  treatile 
which  contains  never  fo  much  truth,  with  a  previous 
averfion  to  the  dodrines  of  it,  and  a  refolution  be- 
forehand to  object  againfl  it  all  the  way,  we  hinder 
ourfelves  from  attending  to  the  force  of  reafon,  and 
prevent  our  minds  from  taking  in  the  evidence  on 
which  any  dodrine  is  founded, 

I  grant  it  is  necelfary  that  all  jufl  objedions 
fliould  have  their  due  weight,  and  they  ought  to 
be  well  confidered  in  our  inquiries  after  truth  ;  yet 
when  any  doftrine  has  many  and  llrong  arguments 
from  fcripture  and  reafon  advanced  to  fupport  it, 
one  difficulty  or  two  which  at  prefent  feem  hard  to 
be  folved,  fliould  not  utterly  forbid  our  aflent,  fmce, 
(as  bifhop  Fowler  well  obferves)  "  Th^re  are  fcarce 

any 


X  fREFACE. 

any  notions  fo  plain  as  to  be  uncapable  of  being  ob- 
fcured  and  called  in  queftion,  except  the  firft  and 
felf-evident  principles,  or  the  immediate  confe- 
quences  of  them."  Becaufe  we  underftand  not  what 
is  difficult,  we  muft  not  merely  for  that  reafon  de- 
ny that  which  is  clear  and  plain  ;  and  if  we  will  re- 
fufc  to  believe  any  propofition  till  we  are  perfedlly 
able  to  mailer  all  objcdions  againft  it,  we  may  be 
fceptics  all  our  days,  both  in  matters  of  philofophy 
and  religion,  and  even  in  fome  do6trines  of  the  high- 
ell  importance  ;  and  with  all  our  pretences  to  learn- 
ing, may  finilh  our  lives  like  mere  fools. 

7.  That  they  would  acknowledge  that  the  glories 
of  our  blelfed  Lord  are  fo  many,  ib  various,  and  fo 
fublime,  that  there  is  but  very  little  of  them  yet 
known,  in  comparifon  of  the  unknown  glories  which 
he  poireifes  ;  and  that  a  finccre  love  to  Chrift  and 
a  zeal  for  his  honour,  fhould  lead  them  out  with 
pleafure  and  expectation  to  meet  any  further  dil- 
coveries  of  this  kind,  which  may  be  drawn  from  the 
word  of  God.  That  they  would  withhold  them- 
felves  from  a  hafby  refufal  to  receive  all  fuch  man- 
ifeftations,  left  they  fhould  prevent  the  growing  hon- 
ours of  their  Saviour. 

.8.  While  I  am  tracing  thefe  early  and  fublime 
glories  of  our  blefled  Redeemer,  by  the  gleams  or 
the  rays  of  light  which  are  fcattered  in  feveral  parts 
of  his  word,  I  entreat  my  friends,  that  they  would 
not  be  too  fevere  in  their  cenfures  of  any  miftaken 
ftep,  while  I  own  myielf  fallible,  and  am  ready  to 
re  trad  any  miflake. 

If  they  fliould  meet  with  any  expreffions  which 
in  their  opinion  do  not  ftand  fo  perfectly  juft  and 
fquare  with  other  of  my  fentiments  in  fome  diftant 
parts  of  thefe  Elfays,  I  would  perfuade  myfelf  they 
will  be  fo  candid  as  to  interpret  them  in  a  confift- 
ence  with  the  general  fcope  and  dcfign  of  my  ar- 
gument, 


PREFACE.  XI 

gument,  and  with  my  avowed  fenfe  of  things  in  the 
more  important  points  of  religion. 

It  is  an  eafy  matter  to  be  led  a  little  aftray  in  pur- 
fuing  fuch  an  uncommon  track  through  the  third 
heavens,  the  prefent  exalted  refidence  of  our  glori- 
fied Saviour ;  and  in  tracing  the  footfteps  of  our 
bleffed  Lord  through  long  paft  ages  of  his  pre-ex- 
iftent  ftate,  be  they  never  fo  certain,  v^hich  com- 
menced before  thefe  lower  heavens  were  formed,  or 
time  was  meafured  by  the  fun  and  moon.  Suc- 
ceeding writers  may  more  happily  condud  them- 
felves  in  fo  glorious  an  inquiry,  and  correft  my  wan- 
derings :  but  I  am  perfuaded  my  gracious  Redeemer 
will  forgive  what  errors  he  remarks  in  thefe  fincere 
attempts  to  advance  his  honour ;  and  I  hope  my 
pious  readers  will  find  fome  degrees  of  entertainment, 
as  well  as  improvement,  and  feel  fome  devout 
thoughts  awakened  in  them  fufficient  to  influence 
their  charity  and  candour. 

9.  That  they  would  not  imagine  that  all  thefe 
notions  and  opinions  which  may  be  fomething  new 
and  ftrange  to  them.,  are  pure  inventions  of  my  own, 
and  rhere  fallies  of  imagination, 

I  mufh  acknowledge  indeed  that  I  have  endeav- 
oured to  carry  on  the  hints  I  have  met  with  in  fome 
great  and  honoured  writers  to  a  further  length,  and 
to  trace  the  golden  thread  of  thefe  diicoveries 
through  fardiftant  fcenes  and  ages,  by  the  light  both 
of  reafon  and  fcripture  :  but  as  I  have  no  ambition 
to  aflume  thefe  difcoveries  to  myfelf,  fo  I  ought  in 
juftice  to  ftand  fecure  from  thefe  cenfures  which  a 
heated  and  warm  zeal  for  ancient  land-m.arks,  is 
ready  to  throw  upon  every  thing  that  bears  the  ap- 
pearance of  novelty, 

I  have  therefore,  in  the  end  of  fome  of  thefe  dif- 
courfes  or  inquiries,  cited  feveral  writers  of  name  and 
eminence,  and  called  in  the  afliftance  of  their  au- 
thority 


Xll  FUEFACE. 

thorlty  to  cover  thefe  Eflays  from  the  fudden  and 
fevere  reproaches  of  thofe  who  reverence  the  names 
of  thofe  great,  and  learned,  and  pious  men.  And 
what  fuch  venerable  authors  thought  very  confident 
with  orthodox  doftrine,  and  fo  ufeful  and  neceflary 
to  fupport  the  honours  of  our  bleffed  Lord,  I  hum- 
bly hope  and  requeft  that  my  readers  will  not  haftily 
abandon  and  rejeft  as  herefy,  and  renounce  it  at 
once  without  due  confiJeration  of  the  arguments. 

And  as  for  thofe  who  have  a  great  regard  for  the 
writings  of  fo  ingenious  and  fo  pious  a  man,  fo 
evangelical  an  author,  and  fo  great  a  divine  as  Dr. 
Thomas  Goodwin,  I  might  recommend  to  them 
the  perufal  of  his  Treatife  of  the  Royaltv  of  Jefus 
Chrijl^  as  God- Man,  which  I  have  abridged  here  j  and 
before  they  read  thefe  Eflays  I  might  entreat  them  to 
read  this  Abridgment,  though  I  dare  not  pretend 
to  give  my  aflent  to  all  his  opinions  in  thefe  papers, 
or  fupport  them. 

Give  me  leave  to  finifli  this  Preface  (fo  far  as  it 
relates  to  the  Difcourfcs  on  the  pre-exilient  foul  of 
Chrift,  and  the  extenfive  powers  of  his  glorified  hu- 
man nature)  in  the  modeft  and  amiable  language  of 
that  ingenious  gentleman  who  wrote  many  years  ago 
of  the  Progreffive  Knowledge  of  Soids  in  the  future 
State.  *'  If  any  thing  fliould  drop  from  my  pen  in 
the  progrefs  of  this  Difcourfe  which  may  feem  too 
affirmative,  and  hardly  reconcileable  with  a  becom- 
ing modefiy  and  jealoufy,  I  defire  thofe  luxuriances 
of  expreffion  may  receive  fome  abatements,  and  be 
made  fairly  agreeable  thereunto.  For  although  I 
may  poffibly  be  indifferently  well  perfuaded  of  the 
truth  of  what  1  fhall  difcourfe,  yet  I  am  not  certain  : 
it  is  not  improbable  that  I  fhould  be  miftaken  :  I  am 
of  human  race,  and  have  no  privilege  of  exemption 
from  human  infirmities  and  errors." 

*'  Whether 


PREFACE.  iiil 

"  Whether  the  proofs  that  I  (hall  make  of  this 
propofed  theme  be  vaHd  or  invalid,  the  reader  muft 
determine  when  he  hath  weighed  and  confidered 
them.  I  am  content  that  they  be  efteemed  jufl 
as  they  are.  If  my  arguments  be  thought  in- 
valid, and  my  opinion  rejected,  it  will  be  no  matter 
of  provocation  to  me.  If  they  be  thought  cogent, 
and  my  opinion  worthy  of  acceptation  with  pious 
and  ingenious  men,  perchance  I  may  be  a  little 
pleafed  therein.  But  if  it  may  advance  [the  honour 
and]  the  love  of  God  [my  Saviour]  and  make  heav- 
en the  more  acceptable  to  the  thoughts  and  medi- 
tations of  Chriftians  [becaufe  we  have  fo  glorious  a 
Mediator  dwelling  there]  I  aru  fure  I  fhall  greatly 
rejoice." 


CONTENTS. 


Page 


CONTENTS. 


DISCOURSE     I. 

A  SURVEY  of  the  vifible  Appearances  of 
Chrift,  as  God,  before  his  Incarnation,  17 

Sect.  I.  An  Hiftorical  Account  of  theje  Appear- 
ances, together  with  fome  occafional  Remarks 
upon  them  by  the  way,  and  Inferences  from 
them  in  the  clofe,  -         -         -         -  17 

Sect.  II.  The  Difficulties  relating  to  this  Ac- 
count of  the  Appearances  of  God  under  the  Old 
Tefiament,  relieved  and  adjufted,  -         62 

Appendix.  Some  Obfervations  on  the  Texts  of 
the  Old  Tejlamenty  applied  to  Chriji,         -         88 

DISCOURSE     II. 

An  Inquiry  into  the  extenfive  Powers  of  the 
Human  Nature  of  Chrift  in  its  prefent 
glorified  State,  -         -         -         -         99 

Shct.  I.     The  Introduftion,  -         -         99 

Sect.  II.  Scriptural  Proofs  of  the  Exaltation  of 
the  Human  Nature  of  Chriji,  and  the  extenjive 
Capacities  and  Powers  of  his  Soul  in  his  glo- 
rified State,        -         -         -         -         -       103 

Sect.  III.  A  rational  Account  how  the  Man 
Jefus  Chrift,  united  to  God,  may  be  vefted 
with  fuch  extenfive  Powers,  -         -       125 

Sect.  IV.     Tejimonies  from  sther  JVriters,        154 

DISCOURSE 


jcvi  CONTENTS. 

DISCOURSE     III. 


Page 


An  Argument  tracing  the  early  ExlHence  of 
the  Human  Soul  of  Chrift  before  the  Cre- 
ation of  the  World,  -         -         -         i6o 

Sect.  I.     IntrodnBion,  -         -         -  i6o 

Sect.  II.  Some  Pro pojit ions  leading  to  the  Proof 
of  the  DoBrine  propofed,  -         -  162 

Sect.  III.  Arguments  for  the  Pre-exiftence  of 
Chrift'' s  Human  Souly  drawn  from  various 
Conf derations  of  fame  Things  inferior  to  God- 
head, which  are  ajcribed  to  him  in  Scripture^ 
before  and  at  his  Incarnation,  -  16S 

Sect.  IV.  Mifcellaneous  Arguments  to  prove 
the  fame  Dofirine,  -         ~         -         190 

Sect.  V.  A  Confirmation  of  this  DoBrine  by 
Arguments  drawn  from  the  happy  Confequences 
thereof  and  the  various  Advantages  of  it  in 
the  Chrifiian  Religioyi,  -         -         -         203 

Sect.  VI.     ObjeBions  anfwered,  -         245 

APPENDIX; 

Or  a  fhort  Abridgment  of  that  excellent  Difcourfe 
of  the  late  Rev.  Dr.  Thomas  Goodwin,  on  the 
Glories  and  Royalties  that  belong  to  Jefus 
Chrift,  confidered  as  God- Man,  in  his  Third 
Book  of  the  Knowledge  of  God  the  Father, 
and  his  Son  Jefus  Chrift,  />.  95>  in  the  Second 
Volume  of  his  fVorks,  -        -         -         269 


DISCOURSE 


DISCOURSE      I. 


The  Glory  of  Christ  as  God-Man 
di/playecly 

By  a  survey  of  the  visible  Appearances 
OF  CHRIST  AS  GOD,  before  his  Incar- 
nation. 


SECT. 


I. 


An  Hijiorical  Account  of  thefe  Appearances. 

OiNCE  the  Socinian  dodrines  have  been 
cffe(i^ually  refuted  by  many  learned  writers,  efpecial- 
ly  in  the  laft  century,  it  is  now,  I  hope,  confeffed  al- 
moft  univerfally,  that  our  bleffed  Saviour  had  a  real 
exiftence  long  before  he  appeared  in  flelh  and  blood, 
and  dwelt  among  men.  It  is  alfo  generally  acknowl- 
edged, that  he  often  appeared  in  a  vifible  manner  un- 
der the  patriarchal  and  Mofaical  difpenfations,  af- 
fuming  the  names,  and  fuftaining  the  charadler  and 
perfon  of  the  great  and  bleffed  God.  Yet  it  has 
been  a  matter  of  conteft  in  thefe  latter  years,  as  well 
as  in  the  ancient  days  of  Arius,  whether  Chrifb,  in  his 
complex  perfon,  include  Godhead  or  not :  or  whether 
he  being  nothing  elfe  but  a  creature  or  a  mere  contin- 
gent being,  and  is  only  called  God,  as  fuftaining  and 
reprefenting  the  character  and  perfon  of  one  who  is 
infinitely  above  him,  even  the  great  and  eternal  God. 
This  is  the  great  and  Important  queftion  pf  the  age. 
B  Noiv 


1 8  Vifihle  Appearances  of  Disc.  I. 

Now  that  this  matter  may  be  determined  with 
more  evidence  and  certainty,  let  us  firft  trace  out 
the  accoLint  which  the  Old  Teftament  gives  us  of 
the  various  feafons  and  occafions  on  which  God,  the 
Lord*  the  Lord  God,  Jehovah^  the  A/mighty,  the  God 
cf  Abraham,  &c.  is  laid  to  appear  amongft  men,  with 
a  few  remarks  on  them  in  paffing;  and  afterward 
we  lliall  be  enabled  to  draw  more  particular  infer- 
ences from  thefe  fcriptures,  concerning  the  Deity  of 
Chrift  and  his  appearances  before  his  incarnation. 

Whofoever  will  read  the  four  firft  chapters  of  Gen- 
efis  with  due  attention,  will  find  a  very  plain  and 
eafy  reprefentation  of  the  great  God,  firft  creating  all 
things,  and  afterwards  appearing  to  Adam,  Eve,  and 
Cain,  and  converfing  with  them  with  a  human  voice, 
and  very  probably  in  a  human  fliapc  too.  I  am  well 
affured  that  any  common  reader,  who  begins  the  bi- 
ble without  prejudices  or  prepoffeflions  of  any  kind, 
would  naturally  frame  this  idea  under  the  words  and 
expreffions  of  Mofes,  the  facred  writer. 

In  the  firft  place,  God  reprefents  his  own  defign 
of  creating  man  in  this  manner,  viz. 

Gen. 

*  Let  the  unlearned  reader  take  notice,  that  there  are  two  He- 
brew words,  viz.  Jehovah,  and  Adon  or  Adonai,  both  which  our 
tranfiators  render  Lord.  The  fird,  viz.  Jehovah,  fignifies  the 
Eternal  or  Unchangeable,  and  has  been  fufficiently  proved  to  be  the 
proper  name  of  the  great  God,  the  God  of  Ifrael,  peculiar  to  him 
and  incommunicable  to  creatures  ;  and  it  is  written  always  in  capi- 
tal letters  LOK.D,  for  diftinftion  fake»  Thou,  ivhofe  name  alone  is 
JiiHOVAH,  art  the  mojl  high  over  all  the  earth.  Pfal.  Ixxxiii.  1 8. 
Though  it  had  been  much  better  if  tlie  Hebrew  name,  Jehovah  itfelf, 
had  been  always  written  in  our  Englifh  bibles,  that  the  hearer  might 
diflinguiih  it  as  well  as  the  reader.  The  other  name  viz.  yidon  or 
Adona'i  is  alfo  trandated  Lord,  and  written  in  fmall  letters,  becaufe 
it  is  not  the  proper  name  of  the  great  God  ;  it  (ignifies  his  lordjhip 
or  dominion,  and  is  not  fo  pccuhar  nor  incommunicable. 

Now  let  it  be  obfcn-ed,  that  in  almoft  every  place  which  I  have 
cited  to  Hiow  the  various  appearances  of  the  Lord  to  men,  it  is  the' 
name  Jehovah  is  ufed,  which  the  reader  will  find  diftinguifhed  by 
capital  letters  in  the  Englifh  bible. 


Sect,  i*  Chrijl  as- God.  19 

Gen.  i.  26.  *  And  God  faid,  Let  us  make  man  in 
our  image,  after  our  likenefs  ;  and  let  them  have  do- 
minion over  the  fi!h  of  the  fea,'  &c.  Ver.  27.  'So 
God  created  man  after  his  own  image :  in  the  image  of 
God  created  he  him  ;  male  and  female  created  he 
them.  And  God  blefled  them,  and  faid  imto  them. 
Be  fruitful,  and  multiply,'  &c.  Ver.  29.  '  And  God 
faid.  Behold  I  have  given  you  every  herb  bearing- 
feed,  to  you  it  fhall  be  for  meat,  and  to  every  beafc 
of  the  earth,  and  to  every  fowl  of  the  air,'  &c. 

Now  it  is  very  probable,  that  when  God  had  made 
man,  he  appeared  to  him  in  man's  own  lliape,  and 
thus  made  it  known  to  Adam,  that  he  had  formed 
him  in  his  own  image,  even  as  to  his  body  j  that  is, 
in  fuch  a  form  or  figure  as  God  himfelf  did,  and 
would  frequently  affume,  in  order  to  converfe  with 
man.  And  perhaps  God  alfo  might  acquaint  Adam 
with  the  natural  and  moral  perfe6tions  of  his  own 
foul,  viz.  knowledge,  rightcoufnefs  and  holinefs, 
wherein  he  refembled  his  Maker,  and  bare  his  like- 
nefs, as  well  as  that  God  himfelf  fometimes  aflumed 
the  figure  of  a  man. 

Let  it  be  noted  here  alfo,  that  when  God  blefTed 
fome  part  of  the  animal  creation,  it  is  exprefled  only, 
God  faid,  (but  not  to  them  as  hearers)  '  be  fruitful  and 
multiply,'  as  ver.  22  ;  that  is,  God  put  forth  a  divine 
volition  or  comxmand  concerning  the  multiplication 
of  inferior  creatures ;  but  he  fpake  to  Adam  and  Eve 
dired:ly  as  his  hearers,  and  moft.  likely  with  a  human 
voice,  for  *  he  faid  unto  them,  Be  fruitful  and  mul- 
tiply ;'  and  told  them,  that  he  had  given  them  the 
fruits  of  the  earth  for  their  food,  and  that  he  had 
given  it  alfo  to  the  fowls  and  the  beafts  :  whereas 
God  is  not  faid  to  fpeak  thus  concerning  food  to  the 
beafts  or  to  the  fowls  themielves,  but  only  told 
Adam  what  he  had  appointed  for  their  common 
food.  This  looks  like  a  human  appearance  con- 
B  2  verfmg: 


20  Vifihle  Appearances  of  Disc.  L 

verfing  with  him,  and  will  appear  more  evidently  in 
what  follows. 

Gen.  ii.  16.  *  And  the  Lord  God  commanded  the 
man,  faying,  Of  every  tree  in  the  garden  thou  mayeft 
freely  eat  ;  but  the  tree  of  the  knowledge  of  good  and 
evil  thou  flialt  not  eat  of  it.'  Ver.  19.  '  And  the 
Lord  God  brought  every  beaft  of  the  field  and  every 
fowl  of  the  air  to  Adam,  to  fee  what  he  would  call 
them.'  Ver.  22.  *  And  the  rib  which  the  Lord  God 
had  taken  from  man  made  he  a  v»'cman,  and  brought 
her  unto  the  man.'  All  this  feems  to  be  the  tranf- 
aftions  and  language  of  the  Lord  God  appearing  in 
human  fliape,  and  with  human  voice  to  Adam. 

Gen.  iii.  8.  *  And  they  heard  the  voice  of  the  Lord 
God  walking  in  the  garden  in  the  cool  of  the  day, 
and  Adam  and  his  wife  hid  themfelves  from  the  pref- 
ence  of  the  Lord  God  amongft  the  trees  of  the  gar- 
den.' 9.  *  And  the  Lord  God  called  unto  Adam,  and 
faid  unto  him,  Where  art  thou  ?'  10.  '  And  he  faid, 
I  heard  thy  voice  in  the  garden  and  I  was  afraid,  be- 
caufe  1  was  naked,  and  I  hid  myfelf.'  11.*  And  he 
faid,  Who  told  thee  that  thou  wafb  naked  T  &c. 
Ver.  13.  '  And  the  Lord  God  faid  unto  the  woman. 
What  is  this  that  thou  hafb  done  ?  and  the  woman 
faid.  The  lerpent  beguiled  me,  and  I  did  eat.'  Ver. 
21.  *  Unto  Adam  and  to  his  wife  did  the  Lord  God 
make  coats  of  ikins,  and  clothed  them,'  &c. 

I  think  there  is  a  very  plain  defcription  of  a  vifible 
appearance  and  a  human  voice  in  this  fcene  and  thefe 
dialogues.  Adam  and  his  wife  could  never  be  faid 
to  *  hide  themfelves  from  the  prefence  of  the  Lord,' 
if  he  had  not  before  manifefted  a  vifible  prefence  to 
them  ;  nor  could  they  '  know  his  voice,'  if  he  had 
not  converfed  with  them  by  a  human  voice  before  : 
this  is  a  pretty  plain  proof  that  God  converfed  with 
them  in  a  human  manner  in  the  foregoing  inilances. 
Nor  yet  could  they  have  hid  themfelves  from  a  mere 

Aoice 


S'ECT.T.  Ch'ijl  as  God.  ii 

voice   *  among   trees,'  nor   could   they  have   been 

*  afhamed  of  their  nakednefs'  before  a  mere  voice, 
if  they  had  not  known  God  before  by  a  vifible  pref- 
ence  and  appearance,  whofe  face  they  now  avoided 
among  the  trees. 

It  is  probable  that  God  not  ©nly  conv-erfed  with 
Adam  and  Eve,  but  with  their  children  and  family 
in  the  fame  manner  in  the  beffinnino;  of  the  world  : 
for  you  read  a  plain  dialogue  between  God  and  Cain, 
Gen.  iv.  6.  *  And  the  Lord  faid  unto  Cain,  Why 
art  thou  wroth  ?  If  thou  doft  well,  fhalt  thou  not 
be  accepted  ?  And 'the  Lord  faid  unto  Cain,  Where 
is  Abel  thy  brother  ?  And  Cain  faid,  I  know  not  : 
■am  I  my  brother's  keeper?'  And  God  replied  again, 

*  What  haft  thou  done  ?  the  voice  of  thy  brother's 
blood  crieth  unto  me  from  the  ground,'  &c.  '  A  fu- 
gitive and  a  vagabond  fhalt  thou  be  in  the  earth. 
And  Cain  faid  unto  the  Lord,  My  punifliment  is 
greater  than  I  can  bear.  Behold,  thou  haft  driven 
me  out  this  day  from  the  face  of  the  earth,  and  from 
thy  face  I  ftiall  be  hid,'  Ver.  i6.  *  And  Cain  went 
out  from  the  prefence  of  the  Lord.'  Surely  every 
reader  among  the  Jews,  for  whom  Mofes  wrote  this, 
would  have  an  idea  of  the  great  God's  appearing  and 
converiing  with  Adam  and  his  houfehold  in  human 
fhape,  and  after  the  manner  of  men  :  and  then  '  Caia 
went  out  from  the  prefence  of  God.' 

But  whatfoever  fliape  appeared  to  them,  I  think 
it  muft  be  granted,  that  God  appeared  in  a  vifible 
manner,  where  the  expreflions  jxve,  fo  plain  and  fo 
^ftrong,  where  the  repetitions  are  fo  many,  that  the 
Lord,  i.  e.  Jehovah,  the  Lord  God,  appeared,  and  fat 
■or  walked,  and  did  and  fpake  this  or  that.  In  fo  ma- 
ny tranfaclions  and  dialogues  it  is  very  hard  to  fup- 
:pofe  that  there  was  nothing  elfe  but  a  created  angel 
came  affuming  the  name  of  God.     Surely  fuch  fort 

of 


2  2  VifibL:  Appearances  of  Disc.  I. 

of  reprefcntations  would  lead  all  comtnon  readers  in- 
to a  grofs  mi  (take,  it  God  himlclt"  were  not  here  at 
all  in  a  fpecial  and  vifiblc  manner. 

It  is  very  probable  there  miglit  be  fome  glorious 
light,  fome  awful  brightnefs,  that  frequently  fur- 
rounded  and  invefled  this  human  form  in  which 
God  appeared  and  convcrfed  with  man,  and  which 
might  be  called  his  divine  form,  that  he  might  be 
thereby  in  fome  meafure  diftinguiflied  and  well 
known  as  God.  Doubtlefs  the  Lord,  Jehovah,  when 
he  came  down  to  vifit  men,  carried  fome  enfign  of 
divine  majefty  with  him,  fomx  fplendid  cloud  or  lu- 
minous rays  about  him,  when  he  defigned  that  men 
fliould  know  God  was  there.  It  was  luch  a  light  ap- 
]ieared  often  at  the  door  of  the  tabernacle,  and  fixed 
its  abode  on  the  ark  between  the  cherubims,  and  by 
the  Jews  was  called  the  Shecinah,  i.  e.  the  habitation 
of  God.  And  thence  God  is  defcribed  in  fcripture 
as  '  dwelling  in  light,'  and  '  clothed  with  light  as 
with  a  garment :'  but  in  the  midft  of  this  brightnefs 
there  feems  to  have  been  fometimes  a  human  fliape 
and  figure.  And  probably  this  heavenly  brightnefs 
was  that  divine  clothing,that  'form  of  God,'  of  which 
Chrifl  diveftcd  himfeif  when  he  came  to  tabernacle,  or 
dwell  in  feJJi,  with  a  defign  of  humiliation,  though  he 
might  convcrfc  with  men  heretofore  arrayed  in  this 
lightfomc  robe,  this  covering  or  habitation  of  God, 
which  alfo  he  put  on  at  his  transfiguration  in  the 
mount,  when  '  his  garments  were  white'  as  the  light  ; 
and  at  his  afcenfion  to  heaven,  when  a  *  bright  cloud 
received'  or  invefled  liim,  and  when  he  appeared  to 
John,  Rev.  i.  13. 

And  as  God  vifibly  converfed  with  Adam  and  his 
family,  fo  alio  with  ieveral  of  the  patriarchs.  He 
was  feen  often  by  them,  cfpecially  luch  of  them  as 
were  moft  eminent  for  holincfs,  in  a  degenerate  age, 

and 


Sect.  L  Chrijl  as  God.  23 

and  converfed  familiarly  with  them  in  a  vi/ti^/e  man- 
ner :  and  thence  probably  came  the  phrafe,  '  Enoch 
walked  with  God,'  Gen.  v.  22,  24.  and  '  Noah 
walked  with  God,'  Gen.  vi.  9.  which  in  procefs  of 
time  became  a  common  phrafe  to  fignify  a  pious 
man,  who  converfed  much  with  God  in  a  fpirifua/ 
manner,  though  thofe  vifible  appearances  were  not 
then  vouchfafed  to  him. 

When  God  had  chofen  Abraham  to  be  his  pecu- 
liar favourite,  he  appeared  to  him  frequently.  Ads 
vii.  2.  '  The  God  of  glory  appeared  to  our  father 
Abraham,  when  he  was  in  Mefopotamia,  and  faid 
unto  him,  Get  thee  out  of  thy  country,'  &c.  And 
when  he  came  into  the  land  of  Canaan,  Gen.  xii.  i  r. 
*  The  Lord  appeared  unto  Abraham  and  faid,  Unto 
thy  feed  will  I  give  this  land  ;  and  there  he  built  an 
altar  unto  the  Lord,  who  appeared  unto  him  ;'  or,  as 
the  Hebrew  exprelTes  it,  *  who  was  feen  by  him.' 
Thefe  feem  to  be  vifible  appearances  furrounded  with 
light  or  glory,  and  therefore  it  is  faid,  '  the  God  of 
glory  appeared  to  him.' 

Gen.  XV.  i.  *  After  thefe  things  the  word  of  the 
Lord  came  unto  Abraham  in  a  vifion,  faying.  Fear 
not,  Abraham,  I  am  thy  ihield  and  thy  exceeding 
great  reward  :  and  Abraham  faid,  Lord  God,  what 
wilt  thou  give  me  ?'  &c.  Here  was  a  vifion,  and  here 
was  a  voice  j  the  perfon  that  appeared  was  the  Lord 
God,  or  Jehovah  Elohim  :  and  yet  it  is  faid,  '  The 
word  of  the  Lord  came  to  him  in  a  vifion  ;'  prob- 
ably this  fignifies  Jefus  Chrift,  the  Logos,  or  IVord 
of  God.  And  yet,  ver.  7.  he  alTumes  the  name  of 
yehovah,  *  I  am  the  Lord  that  brought  thee  out  of 
Ur  of  the  Chaldees :'  and  ver.  i  7.  '  a  imoaking  fur- 
nace and  a  burning  lamp  paiTed  between  the  pieces' 
of  the  divided  facrifice,  in  token  of  God's  making  a 
covenant  with  Abraham  ;  as  it  follows,  ver.  18.    'In 

that 


24  Vifihle  Appearances  of  Disc.  1. 

that  fame  day  the  Lord,'  or  Jehovah,  *  made  a  cov- 
enant with  Abraham.'* 

Gen.  xvi.  7.  '  The  Angel  of  the  hord  found  Ha- 
gar  in  the  wildernefs,  and  faid  unto  her,  1  will  mul- 
tiply thy  feed  exceedingly  :'  and  though  he  be  called 
the  Angel  of  the  Lord,  in  four  places  in  this  narrative, 
yet,  ver.  13.  *  She  called  the  name  of  the  Lord,'  or 
Jehovah,  '  that  fpake  to  her.  Thou  God  feeji  me.'' 
The  perfon  who  a})peared  therefore  feems  to  be  one 
who  was  an  Angel  of  the  Lord,  and  was  alfo  the  Lord, 
or  Jehovah. 

Gen.  xvii.  i.  *  When  Abraham  was  ninety  years 
old  and  nine,  the  Lord,'  or  Jehovah, '  appeared  to  him 
and  faid  unto  him,  I  am  the  Almighty  God  ;  walk 
before  me,  and  be  thou  perfedl.'  Ver.  3.  '  And  Abra- 
ham 

*  Here  let  it  be  obferved,  that  the  ancient  Jews,  fuch  as  the 
Targumifls  or  commentators  on  fcripture,  and  Philo,  reprefcnt  the 
J\lenira,  the  Logos,  that  is  the  Word  of  the  Lord,  as  appearing  to 
the  patriarchs  in  almofl:  all  thefe  places  where  God  is  faid  to  ap- 
pear :  and  of  this  Divine  Word  they  give  us  two  different  ideas, 
as  I  have  fliown  elfewhere :  the  one  is,  that  it  fignifies  fomething 
in  and  of  the  true  and  eternal  Godhead,  fome  diftin(51:  principle  in 
the  Divine  Nature  itfelf,  which  is  called  the  JVord  or  W'lfdom  of  God, 
■whereby  God  revealed  himfelf  to  men.  The  other  is  the  idea  of 
fome  mofl  excellent  Angel  in  whom  God  refided,  and  by  whom  God 
manlfefted  himfelf,  and  who  was  upon  tiiat  account  called  the 
Word  of  God.  Their  writings  lead  us  plainly  to  both  thefe  ideas  : 
nor  is  it  at  all  unreafonable  to  fuppofe,  that  both  thefe  ideas  may  be 
united  in  one,  and  thus  compofe  a  fort  of  complex  perfon,  an  an- 
gel inhabited  by  true  Godhead  under  the  idea  of  Divine  IViflom. 
Some  have  called  tliis  perfon  a  God- Angel \n  all  thefe  vifible  appear- 
ances ;  and  why  may  not  our  blefled  Saviour  be  this  God- Angel  by 
reafon  of  his  human  foul  pre-exiftent  and  united  to  Godhead  in  its 
unincarnate  or  angelic  ftate,  i.  e.  before  he  became  complete  God- 
Man,  and  afterward  he  was  made  a  little  loiver  than  the  angels  by 
dwelling  in  llcih  and  blood  ?  See  more  of  this  matter  in  other  writ- 
ings. But  this  I  do  but  juft  mention  as  I  pals  along,  and  in  the 
margin  only,  bccaufe  I  would  not  enter  into  any  modus  of  explain- 
ing the  internal  diitindions  in  the  Godhead  in  thefe  difcourfes  : 
efpecially  fince  thefe  difcourfes  agree  well  enough  with  any  known 
ifcheme  of  internal  diflindlions  in  the  Godhead. 


Sect.  X.  Chriji  as  God.  25 

ham  fell  on  his  face  :  and  God  talked  with  him,  fay- 
ing, Behold  my  covenant  is  with  thee,*  &c.  '  to  be  a 
God  to  thee  and  to  thy  feed  after  thee,'  &c.  *  and  I , 
will  be  their  God.'  Here  is  another  dialogue  ;  *  and 
God  faid  unto  Abraham, — and  Abraham  faid  unto 
God,'  ver.  9,  15,  18.  and  in  ver.  22,  '  he  left  off  talk- 
ing with  him,  and  God  went  up  from  Abraham,* 
i.  e.  the  vifible  appearance  afcended  out  of  Abra- 
ham's %ht. 

Gen.  xviii.  i.  *  And  the  Lord,'  Jehovah,  *  appeal- 
ed unto  him  in  the  plains  of  Mamre  ;  and  he  fat  in  the 
tent-door  in  the  heat  of  the  day,  and  he  lift  up  his 
eyes  and  looked,  and  lo,  three  men  ftood  before 
him  ;  and  when  he  faw  them,  he  ran  to  meet  them 
from  the  tent-door,  and  bowed  himfelf  toward  the 
ground  ;  and  faid.  My  Lord,  if  now  I  have  found 
favour  in  thy  light,  pafs  not  away,  I  pray  thee,  from 
thy  fervant.'  His  firft  addrefs  was  made  to  one  of 
the  three,  who  feemed  to  bear  fuperior  glory  ;  after- 
ward he  invites  them  all  to  eat,  and  *  he  took  butter 
and  milk,'  ver.  8.  '  and  the  calf  which  he  had  drelied, 
and  fet  it  before  them  ;  and  he  ftood  by  them  under 
the  tree,  and  they  did  eat.  And  he  faid,  Sarah  thy 
wife  (hall  have  a  Ion  :'  at  which  tidings,  when  '  Sarah 
laughed  within  herfelf,  the  Lord,'  or  Jehovah,  '  faid 
unto  Abraham,  Wherefore  did  Sarah  laugh  ?'  ver. 
13.  'Is  any  thing  too  hard  for  the  Lord,'  or  Jehovah  .'' 
Now  I  think  it  is  evident  that  one  of  thefe  three  men 
was  exprefsly  called  'JeJiovah  :  two  of  them  went  on- 
ward toward  Sodom,  but  he  that  is  called  Jehovah 
feemed  to  ftay  behind ;  ver.  1 6, 1 7, and  22,  'the  men,' 
i.e.  the  two  men, '  turned  their  faces  from  thence, and 
went  towards  Sodom,  but  Abraham  ftood  yet  before 
Jehovah.'  And  a  long  dialogue  there  enfues  between 
Abraham  and  the  Lord,  or  Jehovah,  about  the  fpar- 
ing  of  Sodom,  wherein  Abraham  addrelTes  him  as  the 
true  God,  in  ver.  33.     '  The  Lord,'  Jehovah,  '  went 

bis 


2,6  Vifible  Appearances  of  Disc.  I. 

his  way  as  foon  as  he  had  left  communing  with  Abra- 
ham, and  Abraham  returned  to  his  place.'  And, 
Gen.  xix.  i.  '  There  came  two  angels  to  Sodom  at 
even,'  which  moft  i)robably  were  the  two  men  that 
left  Abraham  while  Jehovah  tarried  and  talked  with 
him.  Now  it  is  evident  in  the  converfation,  that 
neither  of  thefe  two  angels  aflumed  the  name  of  Je- 
hovah ;  for,  ver.  13.  they  fay,  '  the  cry  of  the  men 
of  Sodom  is  Vv'axen  great  before  the  face  of  the  Lord,* 
i.  e.  Jehovah,  '  and  Jehovah  hath  fcnt  us  to  deftroy 
it.'  This  narrative  gives  us  a  plain  account  of  the 
great  God  appearing  to  Abraham,  and  converfing 
with  him  in  the  form  of  a  man  ;  for  it  is  laid.  He 

*  appeared  to  Abraham,'  or  '  was  feen  of  him,  talked 
with  him,'  and  '  went  up  from  him.' 

Gen.  xxi.  17.  *  God  heard  the  voice  of  the  lad,* 
Ifhmael,  '  and  the  Angel  of  God  called  unto  Hao;ar 
cut  of  heaven,  Arife,  lift  up  the  lad,  for  I  will  make 
him  a  great  nation.  And  God  opened  her  eyes,  and. 
fhe  faw  a  well  of  water.'  Here  is  a  perfon  fpeaking, 
who  feems  to  affume  fomething  of  Godhead,  who 
yet  is  called  the  Angel  of  God :  but  whether  there 
was  any  vifible  appearance,  the  fcripture  faith  not. 

Gen.  xxii.  11.  *  The  Angel  of  the  Lord  called  to 
Abraham  out  of  heaven,  and  faid.  Lay  not  thine 
hand  upon  the  lad,'  that  is  Ifaac,  'for  now  I  know  that 
thou  fcarell  God,  feeing  thou  hafb  not  withheld  thy 
fon,  thine  only  fon  ffom  me.'  Ver.  14.  *  And  Abra- 
ham called  the  name  of  that  place  Jehovah-Jireh.' 
Ver.  i^.  *  And  the  Angel  of  the  Lord  called  unto 
Abraham  out  of  heaven  the  fecond  time,'  and  faid, 

*  By  myfcif  have  I  fworn,  faith  the  Lord,  that  in  blei- 
fing  I  will  blefs  thee,  becaufe  thou  haft  obeyed  my 
voice.'  Here  alfo  is  an  angel  of  Jehovah,  who 
feems  to  afllime  the  charader  of  Deity  ;  but  wheth- 
er there  was  a  vifible  appearance,  or  only  a  voice,  is 
not  certain. 

Gen. 


Sect.  I.  Chriji  as  God.  27 

Gen,  xxvi.  2.  *  And  the  Lord,'  Jehovah, '  appear- 
ed unto  Ifaac  and  faid.  Go  not  down  into  the  land  of 
Eoypt ;  fojourn  in  this  land,  and  I  will  be  with  thee, 
and  I  will  blefs  thee,  1  will  perform  the  oath  which  I 
fware  unto  Abraham  thy  father.'  Ver.  24.  And 
when  Ifaac  went  to  BeerQieba,  *  the  Lord  appeared  to 
him  the  fame  night,  and  laid,  I  am  the  God  of  Abra- 
ham thy  father  :  fear  not,  for  J.  am  with  thee.'  Be- 
fidcs  thefe  two,  1  remember  not  any  other  appear- 
ance of  God  to  Ifaac. 

The  two  firft  appearances  which  we  read,  that 
God  made  unto  Jacob,  were  both  in  a  dream  :  one 
in  Gen.  xxviii.  12.  '  The  angels  of  God  afcending 
and  defcending  on  a  ladder,'  fet  up  on  the  earth  and 
reaching  to  heaven  ;  '  and  behold  the  Lord,'  or  Jeho- 
vah, '  ftood  above  it,  and  faid,  I  am  Jehovah,  the 
God  of  Abraham  thy  father,  and  the  God  of  Ifaac' 
Gen.  xxviii.  12,  13.  and  ver.  16.  '  Jacob  faid,  Surely 
the  Lord  is  in  this  place.'  Gen.  xxxi.  11,  13.  And 
*  the  Angel  of  God  fpake  unto  me  in  a  dream,  faying, 
Jacob  ;  and  I  faid,  here  am  I :  and  he  faid,  I  am 
the  God  of  Bethel,  where  thou  vowedft  a  vow  unto 
me.'  Here  is  an  angel,  in  a  divine  or  infpired 
dream,  calling  himfelf  the  God  of  Bethel.  And  ver. 
24.  '  God  came  to  Laban  the  Syrian  by  night  in  a 
dream,  and  faid  to  him,  Take  heed  that  thou  fpeak 
not  to  Jacob  neither  good  or  bad.'  Doubtlefs  thefe 
ancients  had  fufficient  rules  of  diftindiion  to  know 
when  fuch  a  dream  was  divine. 

Gen.  xxxii.  24.  '  And  Jacob  was  left  alone,'  when 
his  v.'ives  and  children  were  gone  over  the  ford,  '  and 
there  wreftled  a  man  with  him  until  the  breaking  of 
the  day  :,  and  he  faid.  Let  me  go,  for  the  day  break- 
eth  :'  and  Jacob  replied, '  I  will  net  let  thee  go  except 
thou  blefs  me  :  and  he  faid,  Thy  name  (liali  be  called 
no  more  Jacob,  but  Ifrael,  for  as  a  prince  haft  thou 
power  with  God,  and  with  men,  and  haft  prevailed  ; 

and 


tt  Viftbk  Appearances  cf  Disc.  t. 

and  Jacob  called  the  name  of  that  place,  Peniel, 
for  I  have  feen  God  face  to  face,  and  my  life  is  pre* 
fervcd.'  *  Now  if  we  compare  this  hiftory  with  Ho- 
fea  xii.  3,  4,  5.  we  fhall  find  that  this  perfon  who 
wreftled  with  Jacob,  and  is  here  called  a  Man,  and 
alfo  God,  is  by  the  prophet  called  God,  and  an  Angel, 
and  the  Lord  God  of  Hojis,  even  Jehovah.  The 
words  are  thefe,  *  By  his  flrength  he  had  power  with 
God,  yea,  he  had  power  over  the  Angel,  and  prevail- 
ed ;  he  wept,  and  made  fupplication  unto  him,  he 
found  him  in  Bethel,  and  there  he  fpakc  with  us ;  even 
the  Lord  God  of  Hofts,  Jehovah  is  his  memorial.' 

Gen.  XXXV.  9.  *  And  God  appeared  unto  Jacob 
again  when  he  came  out  of  Padanaram,  and  blefled 
him.  And  God  faid,  I  am  God  Almighty,  be  fruit- 
ful and  multiply,'  he.  And  God  went  up  from 
him  in  the  place  where  he  talked  with  him.  And 
Jacob  called  the  name  of  the  place  where  God  fpake 
with  him,  Bethel. 

Gen.  xlvi.  2.  '  God  fpake  unto  Ifrael  in  the  vifions 
of  the  night,  and  faid,  I  am  God,  the  God  of  thy  fa- 
ther, fear  not  to  go  down  into  Egypt.'  In  Gen. 
xlviii.  3.  Jacob  rehearfed  the  former  appearance  of 
God  to  him ;  '  God  Almighty  appeared  to  me  at 
Luz  in  the  land  of  Canaan,  and  blefled  me.'  And 
ver.  r  <;.  he  blefles  Jofeph  thus,  '  God,  before  whom 
my  fathers,  Abraham  and  Ifaac,  did  walk,  the  God 
which  fed  me  all  my  life  long  unto  this  day,  the  An- 
gel which  redeemed  me  from  all  evil,  blefs  the  lads,' 
that  is,  the  fons  of  Jofeph.  And  in  this  recognition 
of  the  former  appearances,  and  favours  of  God,  Ja- 
cob feems  to  make  the  God  of  his  fathers,  Abrahain 

and 

*  We  find  here  it  was  a  very  ancient  opinion,  that  no  mm 
could  bear  the  fight  of  God  and  live  :  what  is  the  true  meaning  of 
it,  fee  in  the  following  reflexions  on  the  appearance  of  the  glory 
of  God  to  Mofes  at  the  giving  of  the  law,  Exod.  xix,  and  xx. 
and  in  the  hole  of  the  rock.     Exod.  xxxiii.  9. 


Sect.  I.  Chriji  as  God.  29 

and  Ifaac,  to  be  the  fame  perfon  with  the  Angel  that 
redeemed  kirn  from  all  evil. 

After  this  I  find  no  more  fuch  appearances  of  God 
unto  men,  until  that  glorious  apparition  to  Mofes 
in  the  burning  bufh. 

Exod.  ii.  2,3.  'And  the  Angel  of  the  Lord  appear- 
ed unto  him  in  a  flame  of  fire  out  of  the  midft  of  a 
bufh  :  and  he  looked,  and  behold  the  bufh  burned 
with  fire,  and  the  bufli  was  not  coniumed.'  Ver.  3. 
'  And  Mofes  faid,  I  will  now  turn  afide,  and  fee  this 
great  fight,  why  the  bufli  is  not  burnt.'  Ver.  4.  *  And 
when  the  Lord  faw  that  he  turned  aiide  to  fee,  God 
called  to  him  out  of  the  middle  of  the  bufh,  and 
faid,  Mofes,  Moles.  And  he  faid,  Here  am  I.'  Ver. 
5.  *  And  he  faid,  Draw  not  nigh  hither  :  put  off  thy 
Ihoes  from  off  thy  feet,  for  the  place  whereon  thou 
ftandeft  is  holy  ground.'  Ver,  6.  '  Moreover  he 
faid,  I  am  the  God  of  thy  father,  the  God  of  Abra- 
ham, the  God  of  Ifaac,  and  the  God  of  Jacob.  And 
Mofes  hid  his  face  :  for  he  was  afraid  to  look  upon 
God.'  Ver.  7.  *  And  the  Lord  faid,  I  have  furely  {Qtn. 
the  affliction  of  my  people  which  are  in  Egypt,'  &c. 
Ver.  13.  '  And  Mofes  faid  unto  God,  Behold,  when 
I  come  unto  the  children  of  Ifi-ael,  and  fhall  fay  unto 
them,  The  God  of  your  fathers  hath  fent  me  unto 
you  ;  and  they  fhall  fay  to  me,  W^hat  is  his  name  ? 
What  fliairi  fay  unto  them  V  Ver.  14.  '  And  God 
faid  unto  Mofes,  I  AM  THAT  I  AM  :  and  he 
faid,  Thus  flialt  thou  fay  unto  the  children  of  Ifra- 
el,  I  AM  hath  fent  me  unto  you.'  Ver.  15.  '  And 
God  faid  moreover  unto  Mofes,  Thus  fhalt  thou  lay 
unto  the  children  of  Ifrael,  the  Lord  God  of  your 
fathers,  the  God  of  Abraham,  the  God  of  Ifaac,  and 
the  God  of  Jacob,  hath  lent  me  unto  you  :  this  is 
my  name  for  ever,  and  this  is  my  memorial  unto  all 
generations.'  Chap.  iv.  i .  '  And  Mofes  anfwered 
and  faid,  But  behold,  they  will  fay,  The  Lord  hath 

not 


^d  Vifible  Appea-ranres  of  Disc.  I, 

not  appeared  unto  thee.'  And  in  order  to  prove  that 
the  Lord,  or  Jehovah,  had  appeared  unto  him,'*  The 
Lord  faid  unto  him,  Caft  thy  rod  on  the  ground,* 
&c.  Ver.  5.  '  That  they  may  beheve  that  the 
Lord  God  of  their  fathers,  the  God  of  Abraham, 
the  God  of  Ifaac,  and  the  God  of  Jacob,  hath  ap- 
peared unto  thee.'  And  thus  the  facred  dialogue  be- 
tween God  and  Mofes  proceeds.  This  fame  hiftory 
is  briefiy  repeated  by  Stephen,  Afts  vii.  30, — 36. 

Whoever  reads  this  narrative,  will  plainly  find, 
that  this  perfon  who  appeared  to  Mofes,  was  both 
the  An?d  of  the  Lord,  and  was  God  himfelf :  for  it  is 
faid,  '  Moles  was  afraid  to  look  upon  God.'  He  is 
called  an  angel  by  the  flicred  writer  at  his  firft  appear- 
ance, but  he  is  a!fo  called  in  the  fucceeding  parts  of 
the  narrative,  God  the  Lord,  'Jehovah,  the  God  of  Abra- 
ham, &c.  The  facred  hiftorian  calls  him  fo  frequent- 
ly, and  he  himfelf  roundly  and  flrongly  calls  himfelf 
fo.  He  aflumes  the  higheft  names  and  titles  of 
the  fupreme  God,  /  am  that  I  am,  Scc.  and  that  in 
the  mofb  folemn  and  majeftic  manner  that  it  is  poffi- 
ble  God  himfelf  could  do,  if  he  defigned  never  fo 
plainly  to  declare  his  own  perfonal  prefence. 

Now  I  would  humbly  propofe  thefe  queftions  to 
every  reader,  whether  if  he  fliould  put  himfelf  as  it 
were  in  the  place  of  Mofes,  he  would  not  have  been 
fully  convinced,  and  believed  that  the  great  and  eter- 
nal God  was  the  perfon  adlually  immediately  pref- 
ent  in  the  burning  buQi  in  an  extraordinary  man- 
ner ?  Whether  he  could  avoid  believing  that  the 
perfon  who  fpake  to  him  was  really  the  true  and 
eternal  God  ?  And  though  he  might  fuppofe  that  it 
was  an  angel  that  appeared  there,  whether  fuch 
flrong,  exprefs  and  folemn  affumptions  of  the  divine 
nature  would  not  lead  him  to  believe  that  God  and 
this  angel,  at  lead  in  that  fcafon,  and  for  that  pur- 
pofe  were  fo  far  united  as  to  become  as  it  were  one 

agent. 


Sect.  I.  Chriji  as  God.  31 

agent,  one  fpeaker,  one  complex  perfon  ?  And  wheth- 
er Mofes  himfelf  could  have  any  other  idea  of  this 
appearance,  but  as  God,  the  great  and  bleffed  God, 
dwelling  or  refiding  in,  and  acting  and  fpeaking  by 
this  anpel  ?  Whether  the  mere  idea  of  a  creature,  an 
angel  fent  as  a  vicegerent  or  deputy  to  fpeak  in  the 
name  of  God,  could  anfwer  thefe  fublime  affertions 
of  the  facred  writer,  and  thefe  divine  characters  fo 
llrongly  alTumed  by  the  angel  ?  And  whether  any 
unprejudiced  reader  could  underftand  this  to  be  the 
mere  meflenger  of  an  abfent  God,  (ince  there  is  no 
notice  through  all  this  narrative,  that  he  was  merely 
an  angel  fent  from  God  (confidered  as  abfent)  to  carry 
a  meflage  to  Mofes,  but  rather  many  notices  given, 
both  by  the  perfon  appearing  in  the  buih,  and  by 
the  facred  hiftorian,  that  God  himfelf  was  there,  or 
fuch  an  angel  who  was  alfo  the  great  and  bleffed 
God  ? 

Exod.  iv.  24.  *  And  it  came  to  pafs  by  the  way  In 
the  inn,  that  the  Lord  met  Mofes,  and  fought  to 
kill  him,'  upon  which  Zipporah  circumcifed  her  fon. 
This  feems  to  be  an  apparition  of  the  Lord,  or  Je- 
hovah, in  the  form  of  a  man,  fomething  like  God's 
wreftling  with  Jacob,  and  giving  Mofes  a  terrible  re- 
proof, becaufe  he  had  neglefted  to  make  his  fon  pafs 
under  that  facred  rite  of  circumcifion. 

Exod.  vi.  2.  '  And  God  fpake  unto  Mofes,  and 
faid  unto  him,  I  am  the  Lord  :  and  I  appeared  unto 
Abraham,  unto  Ifaac,  and  unto  Jacob,  by  the  name 
of  God  Almighty,  but  by  my  name  of  Jehovah  was 
I  not  known  to  them.'  Can  any  thing  more  ftrong- 
ly  exprefs  the  ancient  appearance  of  the  true  God 
himfelf  to  the  patriarchs,  who  alfo  appeared  lately  to 
Mofes  under  a  new  name  ? 

After  this  you  have  a  multitude  of  inftances, 
wherein  the  Lord,  or  Jehovah,  converfed  freely  with 
Mofes  upon  every  occafion  :  whether  under  anv  vifi- 

ble 


32  Viftble  Appearances  of  Disc.  L 

ble  appearance  or  figure,  the  fcripture  does  not  ac- 
quaint us,  except  in  the  following  inftances. 

Exod.  xiii.  21.  *And  the  Lord,' or  Jehovah,  *went 
before  thcni  by  day  in  a  pillar  of  a  cloud  to  lead  them 
in  the  way,  and  by  night  in  a  pillar  of  fire  to  give 
them  light.'    Who,  in  Exod.  xiv.  19,  is  called  the 

*  Angel  of  God  wdiich  went  before  the  camp  of  If- 
rael ;'  he  now  removed  *  and  went  behind  them,  and 
the  pillar  of  the  cloud  went  from  before  their  face, 
and  ftood  behind  them.*  And  in  the  24th  verfe  of 
this  chapter  he  is  again  called  Jehovah  :  '  It  came  to 
pafs  in  the  morning-watch,  the  Lord,'  i.  e.  Jehovah, 

*  looked  unto  the  hod  of  the  Egyptians  through  the 
pillar  of  fire  and  of  the  cloud.' 

Exod.  xvi.  9.  Mofes  bid  Aaron  fay  to  the  people, 

*  Come  near  before  the  Lord  ;'  and  '  as  Aaron  fpake 
to  the  whole  congregation,  behold  the  glory  of  the 
Lord  appeared  in  the  cloud.  And  the  Lord  fpake 
unto  Mofes,  faying,  I  have  heard  the  murmurings  of 

the  children  of  Ifracl, and  ye  fhall  know  that  I 

am  the  Lord  your  God.' 

Exod.  xvii.  5,  6,  7.  *  The  Lord  faid  to  Mofes,  Go 
on  before  the  people,  and  take  with  thee  the  elders  of 
Ifrael.  Behold,  I  will  fi:and  before  thee  there  upon 
the  rock  in  Horeb,  and  thou  fhalt  fmite  the  rock, 
and  there  fhall  come  water  out  of  it.  And  he  called 
the  name  of  the  place  Maflah  and  Meribah,  becaufe 
of  the  chiding  of  the  children  of  Ifrael,  and  becaufe 
they  tempted  the  Lord.'  Here  God  promifes  to  ftand 
before  Mofes  on  the  rock,  and  the  Ifraelites  are  faid 
to  tempt  the  Lord,  which  is  applied  to  Chrift,  i  Cor. 
X.  4.  This  rock  on  which  God  ftood  is  called  Chrijl^ 
i.  c.  the  type  of  Chrift  in  whom  God  dwelt.  And 
ver.  9.  they  are  faid  to  tempt  Chrift,  i.  e.  they 
tempted  God,  appearing  in  a  vifible  manner  as 
flandins:  on  a  rock. 

The 


Sect.  I.  Chriji  as  God.  ^3 

The  other  place  where  they  tempted  God,  is, 
Deut.  xxi.  5,  6.  for  want  of  bread  and  water,  and 
'  the  Lord  fent  fiery  ferpents,*  &c.  Both  thefe  are 
joined  together,  Deut.  viii.  15.  And  in  both  places 
we  may  juftly  fay  '  Chrift  was  tempted,'  i.  e.  God 
appearing  as  the  Leader  of  Ifrael  in  the  wildernefs  : 
For  if  it  is  exprefsly  aflerted  '  they  tempted  Chrifb* 
when  the  ferpents  flew  them,  where  there  is  not  any 
exprefs  account  of  a  vifible  appearance  of  God  in  the 
hiftory,  much  more  may  it  be  faid  *  they  tempted 
Chrift'  when  Mofes  fmote  the  rock,  where  there  was 
a  vifible  appearance  of  '  God  as  {landing  on  the 
rock.' 

Exod.  xix,  2,3.*  Ifrael  camped  before  the  mount 
Sinai,  and  Mofes  went  up  unto  God,  and  the  Lord 
called  unto  him  out  of  the  mountain.'  Ver.  9.  *  And 
the  Lord  faid  unto  Mofes,  Behold,  I  come  unto 
thee  in  a  thick  cloud,  that  the  people  may  hear 
when  I  fpeak  with  thee.*  Ver.  18.  *  And  Mount 
Sinai  was  altogether  on  a  fmoak,  becaufe  the  Lord 
defcended  upon  it  in  fire.'  Ver.  19.  *  Mofes  fpake, 
and  God  anfwered  him  by  a  voice.'  Ver.  20.  *  And 
the  Lord  called  Mofes  up  to  the  top  of  the  mount, 
and  Mofes  went  up.'  Exod.  xx.  i.  *  And  God 
fpake  all  thefe  words,  faying,  I  am  the  Lord  thy  God 
which  have  brought  thee  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt, 
out  of  the  houfe  of  bondage.  Thou  fhalt  have  no 
other  gods  before  me,'  &c.  Ver.  19.  *  And  the 
people  faid  to  Mofes,  Let  not  God  fpeak  to  us,  left 
we  die.'  Ver.  21.  'And  the  people  ftood  afar  off, 
and  Mofes  drew  near  unto  the  thick  darknefs  where 
God  was  :  and  the  Lord  faid  unto  Mofes,  Thus 
ihalt  thou  fay  unto  the  children  of  Ifrael,  Ye  have 
feen  that  I  have  talked  with  you  from  heaven.* 
Thus  God  gave  his  laws  to  his  people  from  Mount 
Sinai ;  but  neither  Mofes  nor  the  people  did  at  this 
time  fee  any  limilitude  or  figure ;  for  fo  Mofes  tells 
C  them. 


•^f^f  Vifihli  Appearances  of  Disc-.  E 

them,  Deut.  iv.  12.  '  And  the  Lord  fpake  unto 
him  out  of  the  midft  of  the  fire  :  ye  heard  the  voice 
of  the  words ;  but  ye  faw  no  fimilitude,  only  yc 
heard  a  voice.' 

And  indeed  it  is  probable  that  Mofes  never  faw 
any  form  of  the  countenance,  or  face  of  a  man,  in 
all  the  appearances  of  God  to  him  :  and  though  it  be 
faid,  Deut.  xxxiv.  10.   '  There  arofe  not  a  prophet 
lince  in  Ifrael  like  unto  Mofcs,  whom  the  Lord  knew 
face  to  face,'  yet  we  know  that  the  fame  expreflion  is 
ufed  concerning  the  people  of  Ifrael,   Deut.  v.  4. 
'  The  Lord  talked  with  you  face  to  face  in  the 
mount  out  of  the  midfl  of  the  fire.'     Therefore  this 
can  mean  no  more  than  that  God  fpake  with  Mofes 
and  with  the  people  as  one  man  does  to  another, 
when  they  mutually  fee  each  other's  faces  ;  though, 
the  favour  and  intimacy  to  which  Mofes  was  admit- 
ted, was  much  greater  than  what  God  beftowed  on 
the  people  ;-  becaufe  Mofes  held  long  dialogues  with 
God   feveral  times,  and  could  go  and  afk  him  any 
thing,  almoft  upon  every  occafion.    But  ftill  it  feems 
probable,  I  think,  that  Mofes  never  faw  any  human 
face  in  his  converfes  with  God  ;  for  when  Mofes,  in 
Exod.  xxxiii.  18.  defired  to  '  fee  the  glory  of  God,' 
God  denied  his  requeft,  and  faid,  '  Thou  canft  not 
fee  my  face,  for  there  fhall  no  man  fee  me  and  live.* 
Upon  the  whole  therefore,  this  expreffion,  face  to 
facCy  in  thefc  texts,  muft  lignify  no  more,  than  a 
condefcending  manner  of  converfing  with  men  by  a 
voice,  as  one  man  converfes  with  another,  when  they 
fee  each  other's  faces  :  though  it  is  abundantly  evi- 
dent, that  fome  of  the  more  ancient  patriarchs  con- 
vcrfed  with  God  in  the  form  of  a  man,  and  probably 
faw  a  human  face,  at  leaft  in  a  confuted  vifion,  and 
as  has  been  before  declared. 

Yet  there  remains  fome  difficulty  ftill   in  what 
fenfe  God  faid,  *  Thou  canft  not  fee  my  face ;  for 

there? 


S.£cT.  I.  Ghriji  as  Go^.  3^ 

there  (hall  no  man  fee  me  and  live,'  when  it  is  prob- 
able that  Abraham  and  Jacob  long  before,  and  af- 
terward Jolhua  and  Gideon  faw  the  face  of  that  an- 
gel who  is  called  Jehovah  :  and  my  reafon  for  it  is 
this,  becaufe  they  took  him  to  be  a  man  when  they 
firft  faw  and  fpake  with  him,  and  therefore  at  firft, 
perhaps,  there  was  no  peculiar  luftre  of  glory,  or 
cloud,  to  conceal  his  face,  and  diilinguifli  him  from 
a.  common  rnan. 

j4nfw.  I .  j[t  is  granted  that  this  exprefiion  can- 
not fignify  that  no  living  man  fhould  ever  fee  an 
apparition  of  God  with  a  human  face,  at  lead  in  a 
general  glimpfe,  for  the  reafons  which  are  juft^now 
mentioned,     z.    Nor  can  this  awful  exprefiion  of 

*  not  feeing  the  face  of  God  and  live,'  fignify  that  no 
living  man  can  fee  '  the  eflence  of  God  as  he  is  a 
fpirit,'  and  invifible  to  bodily  eyes ;  for  in  this  fenfe 
angels  and  human  fouls  are  invifible  as  well  as  God 
himfelf  Therefore,  3.  I  think  it  muft  intend  that 
no  man  in  this  mortal  ftate  can  bear  the  fight  of  fuch 
intenfe  rays  of  light  and  glory  as  perhaps  he  alTumes 
in  heaven,  and  as  would  become  the  great  God  to 
afliime  on  earth,  if  he  appeared  in  all  the  corporeal 
fplendor  due  to  divine  niajefty  appearing  among  men, 
as  in  Chrift's  appearance  to  John,  Rev,  i.  17.  *  he 
fell  dowp  as  dead.'  And  this  expofition  is  yet  more 
probable,  if  we  confider  that  St.  Paul  defcribes  God 
*"  as  dwelling  in  that  light  which  no  man  can  ap- 
proach unto  ;'    and  upon  this  account  it  is  added, 

*  whom  no  man  hath  feen  nor  can  fee.'  i  Tim.  vi, 
16.  For  in  this  fenfe,  '  our  God  would  be  a  confum- 
ing  fire.'  Heb.  10.  ult.  and  that  in  the  moft  literal 
fenfe. 

It  is  very  probable,  that  the  unfufFerable  blaze  of 

the  glory  on  the  mercy-feat  was  always  allayed  with 

the  cloud  intervening,  which  might  be  an  emblem  or 

Jype  of  '  God  manifeft  in  the  flefh  ;'   i.  e.    God 

C  2  dwelling 


3 5  Vifible  Ap'pearances  of  Disc.  I. 

dwelling  perfonally  In  the  man  Jefus,  or  in  the  fleflv 
at  his  incarnation.  And  it  is  probable  alfo  for  this 
reafon,  that  the  high  pricft,  when  he  went  into  the 
moil  holy  place,  was  to  make  the  fmoak  of  the  in- 
cenfe  arife  between  this  glory  and  himfelf,  that  he 
might  not  die  by  his  curiofity,  or  too  near  a]:)proach. 
Exod,  xxiii.  20.  '  God  fays  unto  Mofes,  Behold  I 
fend  an  angel  before  thee,  to  keep  thee  in  the  way, 
and  to  bring  thee  into  the  place  which  I  have  prepar<5d. 
21.  Beware  of  him,  and  obey  his  voice;  provoke 
him  not  ;  for  he  will  not  pardon  your  tranfgreffions, 
for  my  name  is  in  him.'  Here  fome  critical  writers 
have  remarked  two  things,  i .  That  the  name  of  God 
is  fometimes  put  for  God  himfe/f  as  Pfal.  ii.   11. 

*  The  name  of  the  God  of  Jacob  defend  thee  :'  So 
that  God  himfelf  mofb  probably  dwelt  in  this  angel. 
2,  It  is  faid,  '  my  name  is  in  the  midft  of  him  12")p2/ 
which  intimates  a  real  indwelling ;  which  alfo  further 
appears,  becaufe  it  is  faid,  '  he  will  not  pardon  your 
tranfgreflions.'  Now  an  authority  to  forgive,  or  not 
to  forgive  fins,  is  a  prerogative  of  God.  And  why 
may  we  not  fuppofe  the  '  fulnefs  of  the  Godhead' 
dwelling  in  this  angel,  who  was  a  fpirit,  as  well  as  the 

*  fulnefs  of  the  Godhead  dwelling  bodily'  in  the 
complete  human  nature  of  Jefus  Chrift  when  he  took 
a  body  ?  as  Col.  ii.  9.  I  add  yet  further,  that  we 
have  much  reafon  to  believe  that  this  is  the  fame  an- 
gel that  fo  often  affumed  the  fublimeft  names  of  God, 
in  his  appearing  both  to  Mofes  and  to  the  patriarchs. 

Exod.  xxiv.  9.  '  Then  went  up  Mofes  and  Aa- 
ron, Nadab  and  Abihu,  and  feventy  of  the  elders  of 
Ifrael.'  Ver.  10.  And  '  they  faw  the  God  of  Ifrael, 
and  there  was  under  his  feet,  as  it  were  a  paved  work 
of  a  fapphire  ftone,  and  as  it  were  the  body  of  heav- 
en in  his  clearnefs.'  Ver.  II.  *  And  upon  the  no- 
bles of  the  children  of  Ifrael  he  laid  not  his  hand  :' 
(i.  e.  he  did  not  deftroy  them,  though  they  law  God) 

and 


Sect.1.  Chriji  as  God.  .  57 

and  it  follows,  *  Alfo  they  faw  God,  and  did  eat  and 
-drink.'  Here  it  is  probable  they  faw  nothing  but  a 
very  bright  or  fiery  cloud,  as  in  ver  i6.  But  out  of 
the  midft  of  it  God  perhaps  might  converfe  with  Mo- 
ies  ;  otherwife  how  could  they  know  that  this  was 
the  God  of  Ifrael  ?  But  1  am  inclined  to  believe  they 
faw  nothing  of  any  human  form  ;  though  indeed  it  is 
expreft, '  there  was  a  paved  work  of  fapphire  under  his 
feet,'  which  may  fignify  only /?'^«^^///  him^  i.e.  beneath 
this  fiery  cloud  :  but  it  is  certain,  his  face  they  faw 
not.  The  children  of  Ifrael  were  fo  prone  to  idolatry, 
that  God  never  gave  them  (nor  perhaps  even  to  Mo- 
fes)  the  fight  of  an  human  face  in  all  their  vifions, 
that  there  might  be  no  foundation  for  framing  an 
image  like  him.  Deut.  iv.  i6.  And  it  is  evident  that 
when  '  Mofes  went  up  intp  the  mount,'  Exod.  xxiv. 
1 6.  it  was  only  a  *  cloud  covered  the  mount,  and 
'the  glory  of  the  Lord  abode  upon  Mount  Sinai ;  and 
the  fight  of  the  glory  of  God  was  like  devouring  fire 
on  the  top  of  the  mount ;'  whence  probably  St.  Paul 
might  derive  that  expreffion,  Heb.  xii.  29.  '  Our 
God  is  a  confumins:  fire.' 

Exod.  XXV.  21.  '  And  thou  fhalt  piat  the  mercy- 
fealr  above  upon  the  ark.'  Ver.  22.  *  And  there  I  will 
meet  with  thee,  and  I  will  commune  v/ith  thee,  from 
above  the  mercy-feat,  from  between  the  two  cheru- 
bims  which  are  upon  the  ark  of  the  teftimony.'  Ex- 
od. xxviii.  30,  ic^.  When  Aaron  goes  i-nto  the  holy 
place  where  the  mercy-feat  flood,  he  is  faid  *  to  go 
in  before  the  Lord,'  Upon  this  account  the  Lord 
of  Hofts  is  faid  'to  dwell  between  the  cherubims.' 
I  Sam.  iv.  4.  and  2  Sam.  vL  2.  and  Pfal.  Ixxx.  i. 
and  Pfal.  xcix.  i.  On  this  account  alfo,  when  the 
.ark  was  moved  from  place  to  place,  God  himfelf  is 
faid  to  remove.  Pfal.  xlvii.  When  David  carried  the 
ark  into  Zion,  ver.  5.  *  God  is  gone  up  with  a  (hout, 
ihe  Lord  with  the  found  of  a  trumpet.'     And  when 

the 


^8  Vifthle  Appearances  of  f)isc.  L 

the  ark  came  into  the  tabernacle  or  temple,  Pfal. 
xxiv.  7.  '  Lift  up  your  heads,  O  ye  gates  ;  be  ye  hft 
up,  ye  everlafting  doors,  and  the  King  of  Glory  fhall 
come  in  :  the  Lord  of  Hofts,  he  is  the  King  of 
Glory.'  And  when  Solomon  built  the  temple,  and 
brought  in  the  ark  of  God  to  it,  2  Chron.  vi.  41. 
Solomon  faid,  *  Arife,  O  Lord  God,  into  thy  refting 
*place,  thou  and  the  ark  of  thy  ftrength  :'  which  is 
repeated,  Ffal.  cxxxii.  8. 

And  concerning  Zion  it  is  faid,  Pfalm.  Ixviii.  16. 
'  This  is  the  hill  which  God  defireth  to  dwell  in/ 
Ver.  17.  '  The  chariots  of  God  are  twenty  thou- 
fand,  even  thoufands  of  angels  :  the  Lord  is  among 
them  as  in  Sinai,  in  the  holy  place.'  As  God  ap- 
peared on  Sinai  in  a  vifible  cloiid,  in  fire  or  glory, 
where  thoufands  of  angels  furrounded  him,  fo  God 
dwelt  in  Zion  over  the  mercy-feat,  in  a  vifible  and 
bright  cloud,  between  the  cheriibims,  reprefenting 
the  attendance  of  angels.  Then  follows,  ver.  18. 
*  Thou  haft  afcended  on  high  ;  thou  haft  led  captiv- 
ity captive,'  which  is  applied  to  Chrift,  Ephef.  iv. 
Thus  the  afcent  of  the  ark  of  God  to  Zion,  was  a 
type  of  the  afcenfion  of  Chrift  to  heaven.  For  as 
God  dwelt  upon  the  ark  between  the  cherubims  in 
a  bright  cloud,  under  the  Jewifh  difpenfation,  and 
thence  communicated  his  mind  to  men,  and  was 
there  folemnly  ;invoked  and  worfliipped,  fo  the  *  ful- 
nefs  of  the  Godhead  dwelt  bodily'  in  the  man  Chrift 
Jefus,  and  thus  *  God  in  Chrift'  reveals  himfelf  to  us, 
and  is  worlhipped  and  invoked  by  us  iinder  the 
Chriftian  difpenfation  i  but  ftill  with  this  difference, 
that  the  union  between  God  and  man  in  Chrift  Je- 
fus is  much  more  near,  more  intimate  and  glorious, 
fo  as  to  make  one  complex  perfon  or  God- Man,  and 
it  is  fo  conftant  as  never  to  be  diflblved  ;  for  Chrift, 
who  is  '  of  the  feed  of  David  after  the  flefli,'  is  by 
this  union  *  God  over  all  blefled  for  evermore.'  See 
Rom.  ix.  5.  Exod. 


%E'.CT.t.  .    Chrifl  as  God.  ^9 

Exod.  xxxi.  18.  When  *  God  had  made  an  end  6f 

communing  with  Mofes  on  mount  Sinai,  he  gav€ 

unto  him  two  tables  of  teftimony-,  tables  of  flone 

written  with  the  finger  of  God.'     This  feems  to  in- 

itimate  a  human  fliape  giving  the  tables  to  Moies,  but 

•not  the  vifion  of  a  human  face. 

In  Exod.  xxxii.  2.  When  Ifrael  had  offended  God 
'by  the  golden  cs,lf,  he  faid,  'I  will  fend  an  angel  be- 
fore thee,  and  1  will  drive  outthe  Canaanites,'  &c. 
*  for  I  will  not  go  up  in  -the  midfi;  of  thee,  for  thou 
-■art  a  ftiff-necked  people,  left  I  confume  thee  in  the 
way.* 

It  is  the  opinion  of  Dr.  Owen  on  this  place,  that 
:t:he  angel  which  God  in  his  anger  told  them  he 
would  lend  before  them,  when  he  himfelf  refufed 
•to  go  up  in  the  midft  of  them,  was  different  from 
that  angel  whom  he  promifed  to, them,  Exod.  xxiii. 
20.  '  in  whom  the  name  of  God  was :'  but  upon 
their  mourning  and  repentance,  and  upon  the  inter- 
cefiion  of  Mofes,  ver.  4.  and  14.  God  fays,  '  My 
prefence  fhali  go  with  thee,  and  I  will  give  thee  reft  ;* 
which  is  much  the  fame  thing  as  if  he  had  faid,  '  tlie 
angel  of  my  prefence  fhall  go  with  thee  ;'  for  fo  this 
angel  in  whom  the  *,name  of  God'  dwelt,  is  called, 
Ifai.  Ixiii.  9.  '  In  all  their  afflictions  he  was  afflidteds 
and  the  angel  of  his  prefence  faved  them.' 

Exod.  xxxiii.  9.  '  Mofes  entered  into  the  taber- 
nacle, and  the  cloudy  pillar  defcended  and  ftood  at 
tlie  door  of  the  tabernacle,  and  the  Lord  *  talked 

with 
*  Note,   The  Lord  is  not  in  the  original  in  this  place.;  and  this 

is  the  only  place  that  ocoirs  to  me where  the  nominative  cafe 

is  wanting,  when  God  or  the  angel  is  faid  to  talk  with  Mofes  out  of 
the  cloud  ;  but  ver.  1 1 .  immediately  it  is"  faid,  '  The  Lord,'  i.  e.  Je- 
hovah, '  fpake  to  Mofes  face  to  face.'  And  Exod.  xxxiv.  5.  it  is 
faid,  '  The  Lord  defcended  in  the  cloud,  and  Itood  with  ^ofes 
there,'  &c.  So  that  this  fingle  ellipfis  or  fubintelledtion  of  the 
nominative  cafe  Lord^  ver.  9.  ought  not  to  be  conftrued  in  oppo- 
Tition  to  all  other  places  where  the  Lord  himfelf  is -faid  to  Ipesk 
'%\4<;h  Mofes. 


40  Vifibh  Appearances  of  Disc.  I, 

with  Mofes,  and  all  the  people  faw  the  cloudy  pillar 
(land  at  the  tabernacle  door,  and  all  the  people  rofe 
up  and  worlhlpped,  every  man  in  his  tent-door.' 
Ver.  II.  *  And  the  Lord  fpake  unto  Mofes  face  to 
face,  as  a  man  fpeaketh  unto  his  friend.'  Yet  (as  I 
before  intimated)  perhaps  this  fignifies  only  free  mu- 
tual difcourfe,  like  human  and  friendly  converfation  ; 
for  a  few  verfes  afterwards,  God  refufed  to  let  Mofes 
fee  his  face,  ver.  20.  '  Thou  canft  not  fee  my  face, 
for  there  fhall  no  man  fee  me  and  live.' 

Upon  this  account  it  may  be  queried,  whether 
Mofes  ever  faw  the  likenefs  of  a  human  face  in  all  the 
appearances  of  God  to  him  :  yet  there  feems  to  be 
the  fimilitude  of  the  back  of  a  man  as  to  the  fhape 
of  his  body,  in  which  God  appeared  to  Mofes  at 
his  requeft ;  for  the  Lord  faid,  ver.  21.  *  Behold  there 
is  a  place  by  me,  and  thou  flialt  ftand  upon  a  rock.' 
Ver.  22.  '  And  it  fhall  come  to  pafs,  while  my  glory 
pafTeth  by,  that  I  will  put  thee  into  a  clift  of  the 
rock,  and  I  will  cover  thee  with  my  hand  while  I 
pafs  by.'  Ver.  23.  *  And  I  will  take  away  mine  hand, 
and  thou  Ilialt  fee  my  back  parts,  but  my  face  (hall 
not  be  feen.' 

And  accordingly  in  Exod.  xxxiv.  5.  *  The  Lord 
defcended  in  the  cloud,  and  flood  with  him  there, 
and  proclaimed  the  name  of  the  Lord.'  Ver.  6. 
*  And  the  Lord  pafled  by  before  him,  and  proclaim- 
ed. The  Lord,  the  Lord  God,  merciful  and  gracious, 
long-fuffering,'  &c.  *  And  Mofes  made  hafte,  and 
bowed  his  head  toward  the  earth,  and  worlhipped.' 
Ver.  14.  And  the  Lord  faid,  *  Thou  (halt  worfliip 
no  other  god,  for  the  Lord,'  Jehovah,  *  whole  name 
is  Jealous,  is  a  jealous  God.' 

It  is  pofTible  that  thefe  cxpreffions  of  God's  '  cov- 
ering Moles  with  his  hand,'  while  '  the  glory  of  God 
palfed  by,'  and  Moles '  feeing  the  back  parts  of  God,* 
may  fignify  no  more  than  this,  that  in  this  particu- 
lar 


Sect.  I.  Chijl  as  God.  41 

lar  appearance  of  God,  he  arrayed  himfelf  in  beams 
of  light  of  fuch  unfufFerable  fplendor,  that  it  would 
have  deftroyed  the  body  of  Moles,  had  not  God  fhel- 
4:ered  and  proteded  him  j  and  that  the  *  back  parts' 
which  Mofes  faw,  may  only  fignify  this  fame  bright 
appearance  after  it  was  gone  to  a  fafer  diftance.  Or 
we  may  fuppole  that  there  was  a  human  form  in  this 
appearance,  darting  unfufferable  light  from  his  face, 
which  for  that  reafon  could  not  be  feen  ;  and  that 
Mofes  faw  the  fimijlitude  of  the  back  of  a  man,  after 
he  was  pad  to  fome  diftance  from  him. 

It  is  not  improbable  but  that  in  fome  of  the  other 
difcoveries  of  God  to  Mofes,  he  might  appear  in  the 
eyes  of  Mofes  in  a  human  form,  with  a  bright,  but 
Tiot  unfufferable  fhine  of  glory  covering  all  his  ftature, 
even  as  the  face  of  Mofes  himfelf  might  appear  in  the 
eyes  of  the  children  of  Ifrael,  when  '  the  &in  of  his 
face  Ilione,'  fo  much  that  '  they  were  afraid  to  come 
nigh  him.'  Exod.  xxxiv.  30.  And  there  is  a  great 
probability  of  it,  if  we  confider,  that  God  faid  con- 
cerning Mofes,  Numb.  xii.  8.  *  the  fimilitude  of  the 
Lord  iliall  he  behold  ;'  i.  e,  God  in  the  figure  of  a 
man,  though  not  his  face. 

God  had  promifed,  in  Exod.  xxix.  42.  that  *  at 
the  door  of  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation  I  will 
meet  with  the  children  of  Ifrael,  and  the  tabernacle 
(hall  be  fandified  by  my  glory.'  This  promife  was 
accomplifhed,  Exod.  xl.  34.  When  the  tabernacle 
was  ereded,  then  'a  cloud  covered  the  tent  of  the 
congregation,  and  the  glory  of  God  filled  the  taber- 
nacle.' Ver.  2,$'  'And  Mofes  was  not  able'  at  that 
time  '  to  enter  into  the  tabernacle  of  the  congrega- 
tion, becaufe  the  cloud  abode  thereon,  and  the  glory 
of  the  Lord  filled  the  tabernacle. 

Lev.  ix.  1,4.  '  Mofes  called  Aaron  and  his  fons 
and  the  elders  of  Ifrael,'  and  faid,  '  To-day  the  Lord 
mM  appear  unto  you.'  Ver.  5.  *  And  all  the  congre- 
gation 


■'.^^  Vijible  Appearances  of  "Disc.t. 

gation  drew  near  and  flood  before  the  Lord.'  Ver.  6- 
'  And  Mofcs  faid,  This  is  the  thing  which  the  Lord 
commanded,  that  ye  fliould  do.  And  the  glory  of 
the  Lord  fhall  appear  unto  you.'  And  when  Aaron 
had  offered  the  appointed  offerings  for  himfelf  and 
for  the  people,  ver.  23.  'Mofes  and  Aaron  went  in- 
lo  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation,  and  came  out 
and  bleired  the  people  :  and  the  glory  of  the  Lord 
appeared  unto  all  the  people.'  Ver.  24.  *  And  there 
came  a  fire  out  from  before  the  Lord,  and  confumed 
•upon  the  altar  the  burnt-offering  and  the  fat,  which 
when  all  the  people  faw  they  fliouted,  and  fell  on 
their  faces.'  Here  it  may  be  obferved,  that  the 
Lord  is  faid  to  appear  to  them,  ver.  4.  when  ver.  23. 
it  was  '  the  glory  of  the  Lord  appearing  to  the  peo- 
ple,' that  is,  a  bright  light  and  a  confuming  fire. 
Ver.  23,  24. 

Numb.  xii.  5.  '  And  the  Lord  came  down  in  the 
-pillar  of  a  cloud,  and  ftood  in  the  door  of  the  taber- 
nacle, and  called  Aaron  and  Miriam,  and  they  came 
forth.'  Ver.  6.  *  And  he  faid,  Hear  now  my  words : 
If  there  be  a  prophet  among  you,  I  the  Lord  will 
make  myfelf  known  unto  him  in  a  vifion,  and  will 
•fpeak  imto  him  in  a  dream.'  Ver.  7.  '  My  fervant 
Mofes  is  not  fo,  who  is  faithful  in  all  mine  houfe.' 
Ver.  8.  *  With  him  will  I  fpeak  mouth  to  mouth, 
even  apparently,  and  not  in  dark  fpeeches,  and  the 
fimilitude  of  the  Lord  fliall  he  behold  :  Wherefore 
then  were  ye  not  afraid  to  fpeak  againfl  my  fervant 
Mofes  V  Ver.  9.  'And  the  anger  of  the  Lord  was 
kindled  againfl  them,  and  he  departed.'  Ver.  10. 
'  And  the  cloud  departed  from  off  the  tabernacle, 
and  behold  Miriam  became  leprous  white  as  fnow.' 

It  is  not  eafy  to  fay  what  the  precife  difference  is 
between  the  various  ways  of  God's  ancient  dilcoveries 
of  himfelf  to  m.en  ;  but  I  think  thus  much  is  very 
•plain,  which  I  before  hinted,  that  though  the  com- 
mon 


S^E^CT.i.  Chrift  as  God,  4^ 

mon  method  of  God's  converfe  with  the  people  and 
with  Aaron  was  by  a  voice  proceeding  from  the 
bright  cloud,  or  Shechinah,  yet  that  Mofes  was  ad- 
'mitted  to  a  more  intimate  converfe  with  God  in  a 
way  of  dialogue,  as  one  man  talks  freely  with  another, 
which  the  fcripture  calls  face  to  face,  and  month  to 
mouth.  And  on  fome  particular  occafions,  he  beheld 
God  in  the  fliape  or  likenefs  of  the  body  of  a  man ; 
for  it  is  faid,  '  He  fhall  behold  the  fimilitude  of  the 
Lord  ;'  though  perhaps  a  cloud  of  glory  might  al- 
ways cover  his  face,  becaufe  the  face  of  God  vyas  not 
to  be  feen  by  him. 

Numb.  xxii.  9.  '  And  God  came  unto  Balaam, 
and  faid.  What  men  are  thefe  with  thee  ?  And  Ba- 
laam faid  unto  "God,  Salak  the  king  of  Moab  hath 
fent  unto  me,  faying.  Come  now,  curfe  the  people,' 
that  is,  Ifrael.  Ver.  12.  '  And  God  faid  unto  Bai- 
iaam.  Thou  flialt  not  go  with  them,  thou  fhalt  not 
curie  the  people  ;  and  Balaam  faid  to  the  princes  of 
Balak,  The  Lord,'  or  Jehovah,  '  refufeth  to  give  me 
leave  to  go  with  you.'  And  ver.  22,  &c.  there  is 
the  angel  of  the  Lord  meeting  Balaam  on  the  road 
to  Moab,  and  converfing  with  him  ;  but  I  do  not 
find  that  this  angel  either  afTumes  the  name  of  the 
Lord,  oris  fo  called  by  the  facred  writer  :  unlefs  we 
may  infer  thus  much  by  comparing  what  the  angel 
laid  unto  Balaam,  ver.  25.  '  The  word  that  I  fhall 
fpeak  unto  thee,  that  fhalt  thou  fpeak  ;'  with  chap, 
xxiii.  3,  4.  *  Balaam  faid  to  Balak,  Peradventure 
the  Lord  will  come  to  me  :  and  God  met  Balaam.' 
Ver.  5.  *  And  the  Lord,'  or  Jehovah,  'put  a  word 
in  Balaam's  mouth,  and  laid.  Return  unto  Balak, 
and  thus  flialt  thou  fpeak,'  &c.     Again,  ver.   16. 

*  And  the  Lord,'  or  Jehovah,  'met  Balaam,  and 
put   a  word  in  his  mouth,'  &c.     Chap.  xxiv.  2. 

*  And  Balaam  lift  up  his  eyes,  and  the  Spirit  of  God 
^ame  upon  him,  and  he  took  up  his  parable,  and 

faid. 


44  Vijible  Appearances  of  Disc.  i. 

faid,  The  man  who  heard  the  words  of  God,  who 
iaw  the  vlfion  of  the  Almighty,  having  his  eyes  open- 
ed, hath  faid.  How  goodly  are  thy  tents,  O  Jacob  ?' 
&c.  Whether  this  be  fufficient  to  determine  this 
angel  to  be  Jehovah,  I  leave  to  the  reader. 

Deut.  xxxii.  7,-^.  *  The  Lord  your  God  went  ia 
the  way  before  you  in  fire  by  night,  to  (hew  you  by 
what  way  you  Ihoukl  go,  and  in  a  cloud  by  day.* 
Deut.  iv.  12.  '  The  Lord  fpake  unto  you  out  of 
-the  midft  of  the  fire  :  ye  heard  the  voice  of  words, 
but  faw  no  fimilitude,  only  a  voice.'  Ver.  i6..  '  Left 
ye  corrupt  yourfelves,  and  make  you  a  graven  image, 
rthe  fimilitude  of  any  figure  the  likenefs  of  male  or 
lemale.' 

Deut.  xxiii.  13.  *  Thou  fhalt  have  a  paddle  up- 
on thy  weapon,  and  thou  flialt  dig  therewith,  and 
cover  that  which  cometh  from  thee  :  for  the  Lord 
thy  God  walketh  in  the  midft  of  thy  camp  to  deliv- 
er thee  ;  therefore  fhall  thy  camp  be  holy,  that  he 
fee  no  unclean  thmg  in  thee.'  This  text  does  not 
indeed  prove  any  appearance  of  Cod,  but  may  be 
only  a  repreientation  of  God  walking  through  their 
camp  after  the  manner  of  men,  to  imprefs  a  more 
awful  idea  of  the  prefence  of  God  upon  the  people 
of  Ifrael,  that  they  might  abftain  from  all  legal  im- 
purities of  every  kind. 

Joftiua  V.  13.  *  When  Jofhua  was  by  Jericho,  he 
lifted  up  his  eyes  and  looked,  and  behold,  there  ftood 
a  man  over  againft  him  with  his  fword  drawn  in  his 
hand  :  and  Joftiua  went  unto  him,  and  faid  unto 
Jiim,  Art  thou  for  us,  or  for  our  adverfaries  ?'  Ver. 
14.  '  And  he  faid,  Nay,  but  as  the  captain  of  the 
hoft  of  the  Lord  am  I  now  come  :  and  Jofliua  fell 
<5n  his  face  to  the  earth,  and  did  worfhip,  and  faid 
imto  him.  What  faith  my  Lord  unto  his  fervant  ?* 
Ver.  15.  '  And  the  captain  of  the  Lord's  hoft  faid 
unto  Joftiua,  Loofe  thy  ftioe  from  off  thy  foot,  ^r 


Sect.  L  Chrifl  as  Cod.  45; 

the  place  wliereori  thou  ftandcft  is  holy  ;  and  JoHiua 
did  ib.'  Chap.  vi.  2.  And  '  the  Lord  faid  unto 
JoQiua,  See  1  have  given  into  thine  hand  Jericho,* 
&c.  Here  it  feems  evident  that  the  captain  of  the 
hoft  of  the  Lord  is  alfo  called  the  Lord,  or  JehoDah  : 
and  Jofliua  is  commanded,  jufl  as  Mofes  was,  to 
'  loofe  his  Ihoe  from  his  foot,'  becaufe  the  *  place 
was  holy,'  that  is,  becaufe  God  himielf  was  prefent 
there. 

Judges  ii.  t.  *  And  an  angel  of  the  Lord  came 
up  from  Gilgal  to  Bochim,  and  faid,  I  made  you  go 
up  out  of  Egypt,  and  have  brought  you  unto  the 
land  which  I  fvvare  unto  your  fathers,  and  I  faid  I 
will  never  break  my  covenant  with  you.'  This  was 
certainly  a  human  appearance  ;  for  the  angel  came 
from  Gilgal  to  Bochim,  which  plainly  intimates  a  vif- 
ible  perfon  moving  or  paffing  from  one  place  to  an- 
other :  yet  the  words  are  as  plainly  the  language  of 
God  ;  fo  that,  in  all  probability,  this  was  alfo  the 
angel  of  God's  prejence. 

Judges  vi.  II.  *  And  there  came  an  angel  of  the 
Lord,  and  fat  under  an  oak  which  was  in  Ophra  : 
and  Gideon  threfhed  wheat  by  the  wine-prefs.'  Ver. 
1 2.  *  And  the  angel  of  the  Lord  appeared  to  him,  and 
faid  unto  him,  The  Lord,'  Jehovah,  *  is  with  thee, 
thou  mighty  man  of  valour.'  Ver.  13.  *  And  Gid- 
eon faid'  unto  him,  *  O  my  Lord,  if  the  Lord,'  Je- 
hovah, '  be  with  us,  why  is  all  this  befallen  us  ?'  Ver. 
14.  'And  the  Lord,'  Jehovah,  'looked  upon  him,  and 
liiid.  Go  in  this  thy  might,  and  thou  flialt  fave  Ifra- 
cl  from  the  hand  of  the  Midianites  :  have  not  I 
lent  thee  ?'  Here  is  a  long  dialogue  between  the 
Lord  and  Gideon.  Ver.  20.  *  And  the  angel  of 
God  faid  unto  him.  Take  the  flelh  and  unleavened 
cakes,  and  lay  them  upon  this  rock,  and  pour  out 
the  broth  ;  and  he  did  fo.'  Ver.  21.  '  Then  the 
angel  of  the  Lord  put  forth  the  end  of  the  llafF  that 

was 


4^  V'lfihk  Appearance!,  of  Disc-.  L 

was  in  his  hand,  and  touched  the  fledi  and  unleaven- 
ed cakes,  and  there  rofe  up  fire  out  of  the  rock  and 
confumed  the  flelli  and  the  cakes  :  and  the  angel  of 
the  Lord  departed  out  of  his  fight.'  Ver.  2^.  And 
when  '  Gideon  perceived  that  he  was  an  angel,'  Gid- 
eon faid,  *  Alas,  O.  Lord  God,  for  becaufe  I  have  feen 
an  angel  of  the  Lord  face  to  face.'  Ver.  23.  '  And 
the  Lord  faid  unto  him,  Peace  be  unto  thee  ;  fear 
not,  thou  (halt  not  die.' 

On  this  tranfadion  I  make  thefe  few  remarks. 

1.  This  angel  had  doubtlefs  a  human  fliape,  fig- 
ure and  voice,  for  he  fat  under  an  oak. :  and  Gideon 
brought  him  a  prefent  of  flefh  and  cakes  to  eat, 
thinking  at  firft  it  might  have  been  a  man  of  God 
or  a  prophet  j  though  when  the  angel  bid  him  offer 
it  in  facrifice,  and  then  confumed  it  by  a  miraculous 
fire,  '  he  perceived  that  it  was'  no  man,  but  *  an  an- 
gel of  God  :'  and  it  is  hardly  to  be  fuppofed,  but 
that  Gideon  faw  his  face. 

2.  Here  is  an  angel  of  the  Lord,  who  by  the  fa- 
cred  writer  is  feveral  times  called  Jehovah  :  for  thefe 
names  the  Lord^  or  Jehovah,  and  the  Angel  of  the 
Lord,  are  ufed  promifcuouily  by  the  hiftorian,  though 
Gideon  did  not  know  it  was  God  himfelf. 

3.  The  language  which  this  angel  fpeaks,  is  not 
fuch  as  would  immediately  determine  Gideon  to 
believe  it  was  Jehovah,  or  God  himfelf,  who  appear- 
ed ;  and  therefore  we  find  Gideon  does  not  worlliip 
him,  nor  addrefs  him  as  Jehovah. 

4.  Though  Gideon  does  not  exprefsly  call  this  an- 
gel, God,  or  Jehovah,  but  only  '  perceived'  at  laft 
*  that  he  had  fcen  an  angel  of  the  Lord,'  yet  we  may 
fuppofe  that  in  his  recolledlion  he  took  it  to  be  that 
peculiar  angel  in  whom  God  refided  or  dwelt,  for  he 
feared  he  fhould  die  becaufe  he  had  feen  him.  Now, 
though  there  was  an  ancient  and  current  opinion 
among  the  Ifraelites,  that  '  none  could  fee  the  face  of 

Goci 


Sect.  I.  CJinfi  as  God,  47. 

God  and  live,'  yet  there  does  not  feem  to  have  beet> 
any  fuch  notion  that  death  would  enfue  upon  the 
fight  of  a  common  angel. 

But  however,  whether  Gideon  fuppofed  this  angel 
to  be  inhabited  by  Jehovah  or  not,  it  is  plain  that  the 
facred  hiftorian  calls  him  Jehovah. 

Judges  xiii.  3.  '  The  angel  of  the  Lord  appeared 
to  the  wife  of  Manoah,  and  faid  unto  her.  Thou  fhalt 
conceive  and  bear  a  fon,'  &c.  Ver.  6.  *  The  woman 
came  and  told  her  huiband,  iaying>  A  man  of  God 
came  to  rpe,  and  his  countenance  was  like  the  coun- 
tenance of  an  angel  of  God,  very  terrible,'  &c.  Ver. 
S.  *  And  Manoah  entreated  the  Lord,'  or  Jehovah, 
*  and  faid.  Let  the  man  of  God  which  thou  didfb 
fend,  come  again  to  us.'  Ver.  9.  '  And  God  heark- 
ened to  the  voice  of  Manoah,  and  the  angel  of  God 
came  again  to.  the  woman  :  fhe  called  her  huf- 
band,  and  Manoah  faid  unto  him,  Art  thou  the 
man,  that  fpakeft  unto  the  woman  ?  and  he  faid,  I 
am.'  Ver.  15.  *  And  Manoah  faid  unto  the  angel 
of  the  Lord,  Let  us  make  ready  a  kid  for  thee.* 
Ver.  16.  ^  And  the  angel  of  the  Lord  faid  unto  Ma- 
noah, I  will  not  eat  of  thy  bread,  and  if  thou  wilt 
offer  a  burnt-offering,  thou  muft  offer  it  unto  the 
Lord  ;  for  Manoah  knew  not  that  he  was  an  angel  of 
the  Lord.'  Ver,  17.*  And  Manoah  faid  to  the  an- 
gel of  the  Lord,  What  is  thy  name  ?  and  the  angel 
faid  unto  him.  Why  aikeft  thou  after  my  name,  fince 
it  is  a  fecret,  ^}b^  or  Wonderful  } '  The  fame  name 
which  is  given  to  Chrift,  Ifa.  ix.  6.  *  His  name  fhall 
be  called.  Wonderful.'  Ver,  19.  '  So  Manoah  took 
a  kid,  with  a  meat-offering,  and  offered  it  to  the 
Lord  :  and  the  angel  of  the  Lord  afcended  in  the 
flame  of  the  altar.'  Ver.  21.  *  Then  Manoah  knew 
that  he  was  an  angel  of  the  Lord.'  Ver.  22.  '  And 
Manoah  faid  to  his  wife.  We  fliall  furely  die,  becaufe 
we  have  feen  God,'     Here  alfo  is  fuch  an  angel  in 

whom 


48  Vifible  Appearances  of  Disc.  I. 

whom  God  Is  fuppofed  to  refide,  for  Manoah  faid, 
*  We  have  feen  God,'  and  therefore  he  thought  that 
they  fliould  both  die. 

I  do  not  remember  any  appearance  of  God  to  Da- 
vid. He  *  faw  the  angel  of  the  Lord,'  that  was  fent 
to  fpread  a  peflilence  among  the  people,  *  by  the 
threlhing-place  of  Araunah  the  Jebufite.'  2  Sam 
xxiv.  16.  And  'David  fpake  unto  the  Lord,'  or 
Jehovah, '  when  he  faw  the  angel  that  fmote  the  peo- 
ple, and  faid,  Lo,  I  have  finned,  and  done  wickedly.* 
But  it  does  not  plainly  appear  by  all  the  circum- 
itances  of  the  hiftory,  that  this  was  that  peculiar  an- 
gel in  whom  God  dwelt,  or  that  the  angel  was  called 
Jehovah. 

The  Lord  appeared  alfo  to  Solomon,  1  Kings  iii. 
5.  and  ix.  2.  but  it  was  'in  a  dream  by  night,'  whence 
therefore  I  derive  no  inferences  at  prefent. 

I  Kings  xxii.  19,  The  prophet  Micaiah  faid,  '  I 
faw  the  Lord  fitting  on  his  throne,  and  all  the  hoft: 
of  heaven  ftanding  by  him  on  his  right  hand,  and 
on  his  left  :  and  the  Lord  faid.  Who  fliall  perfuadc 
Ahab  ?*  &c.  But  this  feems  to  be  a  vifion  divinely 
reprefented  to  the  imagination  of  the  prophet,  from 
whence  therefore  I  infer  nothing  concerning  God's 
real  appearances. 

Job  iv.  1 3 .  *  When  Eliphaz  reprefents  the  appa- 
rition of  a  *  fpirit  before  his  face  in  thoughts  from- 
the  vifions  of  the  night,'  he  does  not  give  us  fuffi- 
cient  ground  to  form  any  concluhons  concerning  the 
real  appearance  either  of  God  or  an  angel,  in  a  book 
offuch  fubli me  poetry,  wherein  this  is  introduced  in 
the  manner  of  what  the  poets  call  a  machine. 

Ifa.  vi.  I.  '  In  the  year  that  king  Uzziah  died,  I 
faw  the  Lord  fitting  upon  a  throne  high  and  Hfted 
up,  and  his  train  filled  the  temple.'  Ver.  2.  '  Above 
it  flood  the  leraphims,  each  one  had  fix  wings,'  &c. 
Ver.  3.  '  And  one  cried  unto  another,  and  faid,, 

Holv, 


Sect.  r.  Clmft  as  Go  J.  49 

Holy,  holy,  holy  is  the  LORD  of  Hofts,  the  whole 
earth  is  full  of  his  glory.'  Ver.  5.  *  Then  faid  I, 
Wo  is  me,  for  I  am  undone,  becaufe  I  am  a  man  of 
unclean  lips,  and  dwell  in  the  midil  of  a  people  of 
unclean  lips,  for  mine  eyes  have  feeri  the  King,  the 
Lord  of  Hofts.'  Ver.  8.  '  Alfo  I  heard  the  voice  of  the 
Lord,  faying.  Whom  fhall  I  fend,  and  who  will  go 
for  us  ?  Then  faid  I,  Here  am  I,  fend  me.*    Ver.  9. 

*  And  he  faid,  Go  and  tell  this  people,  Hear  ye  in- 
deed, but  underftand  not  ;  and  fee  ye  indeed,  but 
perceive  not.*  This  appearance  of  the  Lord,  or  Je- 
hovah, to  Ifaiah,  in  his  glory,  is  exprefsly  attributed 
to  Chrift  by  the  Apoftle  j   John  xii.  39,  40,  41. 

*  Thefe  things  faid  Efaias,  when  he  f^w  his  glory 
and  fpake  of  him.' 

It  has  been  objeded  indeed,  that  the  word  Lord^ 
in  the  firft  and  eighth  verfes,  is  not  yehovah  in  the 
HebreWj  but  Adonai ;  but  it  is  evident,  that  the 
word  in  the  fifth  verfe  is  Jehovah.  When  the  proph- 
et fays,  '  Mine  eyes  have  feen  the  King,  the  Lord  of 
Hofts,'  Jehovah  Tzebaoth  j  the  perfon  therefore: 
v/hom  Ifaiah  faw  was  Jehovah. 

Ezekiel  often  had  the  fight  of  God  or  of  Jehovah,' 
In  chap.  i.  and  iii.  and  viii,  and  x.  &c.  But  as  it  is 
exprefsly  faid  in  Ezekiel  i.  i.  *  As  I  was  by  the  river 
of  Chebar,  the  heavens  were  opened,  and  I  faw  the 
vifions  of  God  ;'  fo  whether  all  thefe  appearances 
were  not  purely  vifionary,  may  be  queftioned  \  how- 
ever, it  may  not  be  amifs  to  tranfcribe  a  few  expref- 
fions  of  the  facred  writer  on  this  fubjed.  Ezek.  \, 
26.  '  Above  the  firmament  that  was  over  the  heads 
of  the  living  creatures  was  the  likenefs  of  a  throne,  as 
the  appearance  of  a  fapphire  ftone,  and  upon  the  like- 
nefs of  the  throne  was  the  likenefs  as  the  appearance  of 
a  man  above  upon  it, from  his  loins  upward  and  down- 
ward, as  it  were  the  appearance  of  fire,  and  the  ap- 
pearance of  a  rainbow  round  about.  This  was  the 
D  appearance 


^  ViJilU  Appearances  of  Disc.  ?v 

appearance  of  the  likenefs  of  the  glory  of  the  Lord,'  of 
Jehovah.  *  And  when  I  faw  it,  1  fell  upon  my  face^. 
and  1  heard  a  voice  of  one  that  fpake.'  Ezek.  iii. 
22.  *  And  the  hand  of  the  Lord  was  upon  me,  and 
he  faiJ,  Ante;  go  forth  into  the  plain,  and  I  will  there 
talk  with  thee  :  then  I  arofe  and  went  forth  into  the 
plain,  and  behold  the  glory  of  the  Lord  flood  there, 
as  the  glory  which  I  faw  by  the  river  of  Chebar.* 
Ezek.  viii.  i,  *  As  Ifat  in  mine  houfe  and  the  el- 
ders of  Judah  fat  before  me,  the  hand  of  the  Lord 
God  fell  there  upon  me  ;  then  I  beheld,  and  lo,  a 
likenefs  as  the  appearance  of  fire  from  his  loins  down- 
ward and  upward,'  &c.  *  And  he  put  forth  the  form 
of  an  hand,^and  took  me  by  a- lock  of  mine  head,  and 
the  Spirit  lift  me  up  between  the  earth  and  the  heav- 
en, and  brought  nie  in  the  vifions  of  God  to  Jeru- 
ialem  :  and  behold,  the  glory  of  the  God  of  Ifrael 
was  there,  according  to  that  vifion  I  faw  in  the  plain.* 
Kzek.  X.  1 8.  *  Then  the  glory  of  the  Lord  departed 
from  off  the  threfliold  of  the  houfe,  and  ftood  over 
the  cherubim.'  Ver.  20.  *  This  is  the  Hving  crea- 
ture that  I  faw  under  the  God  of  Ifrael  by  the  river 
Chebar,'  &c. 

Dan.  iii.  25.  Nebuchadnezzar,,  when  he  had  caft 
the  three  Jews  bound  into  the  fiery  furnace,  faid,  'Loj, 
I  fee  four  men  loofe  walking  in  the  midft  of  the  fire, 
and  they  have  no  hurt,  and  the  form  of  the  fourth  is 
like  the  Son  of  God.'  It  is  not  to  be  fuppofed  here 
that  Nebuchadnezzar  knew  theMeiriah,orChrill,who 
was  the  Son  of  God,  but  he  means  to  exprefs  a  divine 
and  god-like  form,*   which,  ver.  28.  he  calls  '  the 

angel 

*  It  Is  fufficiently  known  to  tlie  learned,  that  in  the  oriental 
ways  of  fpeaking,  alniofl;  every  thing  may  be  called  2i  father^  d.fony 
or  a  daughter  ;  the  fon  of  pr'ulcy  for  a  proud  man  ;  the  fon  of 
fwickednefs,  for  a  wicked  man  ;  the  yonj  of  the  mighty y  for  might j 
men  ;  and  the  word  god  is  alfo  ufed  to  aggrandize  any  idea ;  the 
trees  of  God,  for  noble  fair  trees,  &c.  fo  that  in  Nebuchadnezzar's 
mouth  this  phrafc,  the  Son  of  God,  can  only  mean  a  very  glorioui 
perfon  above  the  appearance  of  mankind. 


Sect.  I.  Chriji  as  God.  ^t 

angel  of  the  God  of  Shadrach/  &c.  though  proba- 
bly it  might  be  the  pecuhar  angel  of  God's  prefence, 
>n  whom  was  the  name  of  God,  and  who  is  the  only 
begotten  Son  of  God. 

Daniel  had  fevcral  vifions,  and  in  fome  of  them 
God  appeared  to  him,  or  Jefus  Chrift  in  the  form  of 
a  man.  Dan.  vii.  9,  lo,  15,  14.  *  I  beheld  till  the 
thrones  were  cafl  down,  and  the  Ancient  of  Days 
did  fit,  whofs  garment  was  white  as  fnow,  and  the 
hair  of  his  head  like  the  pure  wool :  his  throne  was 
like  the  fiery  flame,  and  his  wheels  as  burning  fire. 
A  fiery  ftream  iffued  and  came!  forth  from  before 
him,  thoufands  of  thoufands  miniftered  unto  him, 
and  ten  thoufand  times  ten  thoufand  flood  before 
him ;  the  judgment  was  {et,  and  the  books  were 
opened.  1  faw  in  the  night  vifions,  and  behold,  one 
like  the  Son  of  Man  came  with  the  clouds  of  heaven 
and  came  to  the  Ancient  of  DaySj  and  they  brought 
him  near  before  him.'  And  *  there  was  given  him 
dominion  and  glory  and  a  kingdom,  that  all  people, 
nations  and  languages  fliould  fcrve  him  :  his  domin- 
ion is  an  everlafting  dominion,  which  fhall  not  pafs 
away,  and  his  kingdom  that  which  fhall  not  be  de- 
flroyed.'  Let  it  be  obferved  here, that  I  do  not  num- 
ber this  among  the  proper  and  real  appearances  of 
Chrift,  or  God  ;  for  it  is  called  a  dream  which  Da- 
niel had,  and  the  '  vifions  of  his  head  upon  his  bed/ 
as  ver.  7,  13.  yet  it  was  a  dream  divinely  infpired. 
Here  the  '  Ancient  of  Days'  reprefents  the  Divine 
Being,  or  God  himfeif,  clothed  in  light  or  brightnefs. 
white  as  fnow  or  wool ;  *  one  like  the  Son  of  Man 
coming  with  the  clouds  of  heaven,'  feems  to  be  the 
Son  of  God  or  Jefus  Chrifl,  who  is  alfo  '  the  Son  of 
Man,  afcending  in  the  clouds^  of  heaven  ;*  and  he 
came  to  the  '  Ancient  of  Days,'  that  is,  to  God  the 
Father,  and  received  his  dominion,  glory  and  exalta- 
tion at  his  afcenfion  into  heaven  in  a  bright  cloud. 
D  z   "^  And 


rjt  Vifihk  Appearances  of  Disci. 

And  it  is  probable,  that  from  the  language  of  this 
dream  or  vifion,  Chrlft  borrows  his  name,  *  the  Son 
of  Man  ;'  and  it  is  evident  that  oi:r  Saviour's  defcrip- 
tion  of  riis  ovm  future  appearance  as  *  the  Son  of 
Man  coming  in  the  clouds  of  heaven,*  Matt,  xxvi. 
64.  is  borrowed  from  this  vifion  \  and  his  real  afcen- 
fion  to  heaven,  and  his  exaltation  there,  is  but  an  ac- 
compliOimcnt  of  this  prophetical  fcene. 

Dan.  viii.  15.  Daniel  had  feen  a  vifion  juft  before, 
and  while  he  was  feeklng  for  the  meaning  of  it,  '  Be- 
hold,' faid  he,  *  there  flood  before  me  as  the  appear- 
ance of  a  man,  and  I  heard  a  man's  voice  which  call- 
ed and  faid,  Gabriel,  make  this  man  to  underftand 
tlie  vifion.'  Surely  this  man  who  appeared  feems  to 
be  Jefus  Chrift,  who  had  command  over  Gabriel,  one 
of  the  chief  angels, 

Dan.  X.  5.  *  I  lift  up  mine  eyes  and  looked,  and 
behold  a  certain  man  clothed  in  linen,  whofe  loins- 
were  girded  v/ith  fine  gold,'  &c.  Here  is  the  de- 
fcription  of  an  appearance  very  like  the  appearance 
of  Chrift  to  the  apoftle  John,  Rev.  i.  13,  but  wheth- 
er this  was  the  angel  of  Gs^d's  prefence,  viz.  Chrift, 
or  another  angel,  is  hard  to  determine.  Ver.  i  o.  *  Be- 
liold  a,n  hand  touched  me,  and  fet  me  upon  my  knees, 
and  upon  the  palms  of  my  hands  ;  and  he  faid  unto 
me,  O  Daniel,  a  man  greatly  beloved, — ftand  up- 
right, for  unto  thee  am  I  now  fent Fear  not,  for 

from  the  firft  day  that  thou  didft  fct  thine  heart  to 
underftand  and  chaften  thyfelf  before  God,  thy  words 
were  heard,  and  I  am  come  for  thy  words.  But  the 
prince  of  the  kingdom  of  Perfia  withftood  me  one 
and  twenty  days  :  but  lo,  Michael,  one  (or  the  firft) 
of  the  chief  princes  came  to  help  me,  and  I  remained 
there  with  the  kings  of  Perlia.  Now  I  am  come  to 
make  thee  underftand  what  fliall  befal  thy  people  in 
the  latter  days.'     Ver.  20.    *  Then  faid  he,  Now " 

will  I  return  to  fight  with  the  prince  of  Perfia  : 

•  there 


"Sect.I.  Chrtfi  as  Go  Jo  -^^ 

there  is  none  that  holdeth  with  me  in  thefe  things., 
but  Michael  your  prince.'     Here  it  is  very  }Droba- 
•ble,  that  *  the  prince  of  the  kingdom  of  Perfia'  is  one 
of  thofe  fallen  angels,  principalities  and  powers  of 
^arknefs,  who  by  divine  permifliGn  governed  the 
'heathen  nations,  and  were  worfhipped  amongll  them 
as  gods ;  for  the  Apoftle  tells  the  Chriftians,  that  the 
"  Gentiles  facrificed  to  devils,'   i  Cor.  x.  20.  all  un- 
der Satan  their  fovereign,  who  is  the  *  god  of  this 
world,'  until  Chrifb  at  his  refurredlicn  and  afcenfion 
*  fpoiled  thefe  principalities  and  powers,'  and  difpof- 
jfelfed  them  of  their  dominions,  Col.  ii.  15.  and  '  led 
them  captive,'  PfaL  Ixviii.  18.  and  took  the  heather, 
world  '  for  his  poffeffion,'  and  into  his  own  govern- 
ment.    It  cannot  be  a  good  angel,  becaufe  he  with- 
ilood  the  good  angel  that  was  ient  to  Daniel  with  a. 
•divine  commiffion  twenty-one  days ;  and  becaufe  the 
..angel  who  was  fent  to  Daniel  went  afterwards  to  fight 
•with   this  prince  of  Feiiia. 

It  is  alfo  very  probable,  that  Michael  is  Jefus 
•Chrift,  'oecaufe  he  is  called  *  your  prince,*  that  is, 
•the  Prince  of  the  Jews,  and  one,  or  the  '  firft  of  the 
princes,'  that  is,  the  prime  archangel.*  And  in  Dan. 
xii.  I.  he  is  called  *  Michael  the  great  prince,  which 
itandeth  for  the  children  of  thy  people,'  that  is,  the 
Prince  or  '  King  of  the  Jews,'  for  fuch  was  Jefus 
Chrift  under  the  ancient  difpenfation ;  this  was  the 
known  charafter  of  the  Meffiah  among  the  Jews ; 
and  as  '  King  of  the  Jews'  he  was  fent  into  this 
world,  then  he  '  came  to  his  own,  yet  his  own  receiv- 
ed him  not,*    John  i.  11. 

What  confirms  this  fentiment  is,  that  in  Rev« 
xii.  7.  when  '  there  was  war  in  heaven,  Michael  and 

his 

*  Yet  it  lias  'been  obferved,  that  though  fome  of  the  fathers,  anil 
©ur  later  divines,  fpeak  of  feveral  archangels,  the  fcripture  vifes  the 
•word  but  twice,  viz.  Jude  9.  and  i  ThefT.  iv.  1 6.  and  both  times  is 
.^he  fingular  number.  Perhaps  this  Miqhael,  i.  e.  Chrift  the  King 
#f  the  Jews,  is  the  only  archangel,  or  pfince  asd  head  of  all  angels. 


^4  VifibJe  Appearances  of  Disc. !. 

Jiis  angels  fought  againft  the  dragon  and  his  angels,* 
Chrift  as  the  head  of  the  good  angels,  and  fatan  as 
the  head  oi  the  evil  angcl^i  maintained  a  war  in  heavr 
en,  i.  e.  in  the  church,  till  the  '  great  dragon  was 
caft  out'  of  the  church,  '  that  old  ferpent  called  the 
devil  and  fatan,  which  deceiveth  the  whole  world/ 
Then  follows  '  a  loud  voice  in  heaven,'  i.  e.  the 
church,  'laying.  Now  is  come  falvation  and  ftrength, 
and  the  kingdom  of  our  God,  and  the  power  of  his 
Chrift ;'  that  is,  the  power  of  Michael  prevaihng 
over  the  dragon  ;  *  for  the  accufer  of  the  brethren, 
w'ho  accufed  them  before  God  day  and  night,  is  caii 
down'  by  the  prevalent  interceffion  of  Chrift  plead- 
ing for  them,  and  by  his  dominion  over  all  things, 
which  God  gave  him  at  his  afcenfion  into  heaven. 

Amos  vii.  7,  8.  *  Behold  the  Lord  ftood  upon  2. 
wall  made  by  a  plumb-line,  with  a  plumb-line  in  his 
hand,  and  the  Lord,'  Jehovah  '  faid  unto  me,  Amos, 
what  feeft  tiiou  ?  And  I  faid,  a  plumb-line.  Then 
faid  the  Lord,  Behold,  I  will  fet  a  plumb-line  in  the 
midfl  of  my  people  Ifrael,  and  I  will  not  again  pafs 
by  them  any  more.'  Here  God  appears  evidently  in 
a  human  figure  to  the  propiiet  Amos,  and  the  flime 
human  form  feems  to  appear  again  to  Amos,  chap. 
jx.  I.  'I  faw  the  Lord,'  Jehovah,  '  flanding  upon 
the  altar,  and  he  iliid.  Smite  the  lintel  of  the  door, 
that  the  pofts  may  ihake.'  Ver.  2.  *  Though  they 
dig  into  hell,  thence  Ihall  mine  hand  take  them  ; 
though  they  climb  up  to  heaven,  thence  will  I  bring 
them  down.  And  to  make  it  ai)pcar  that  Jehovah 
is  the  peculiar  name  of  the  great  God,  he  repeats, 
yer.  6.  what  he  had  before  laid  in  chap.  v.  ver.  8. 
'  He  that  calleth  for  the  waters  of  the  Tea,  and  pourt 
cth  them  out  upon  the  flice  of  the  earth  ;  the  Lord,' 
or  Jehovah,   '  is  his  name.' 

In  many  of  the  writings  of  the  prophets  it  is  faid-, 
^  The  Word  of  the  Lord  came  unto  them  j'  very  fre- 
quently 


"SliECT.'l«  Ckriji  as  God.  ^^ 

quently  to  Ezekiel,  and  fometimes  to  Jeremiah  and 
others ;  when  there  is  no  evidence  of  any  perfonai 
appearances  to  them  at  that  time  ;  though  it  is  not 
improbable  but  at  Tome  of  thofe  feafons  our  blefled 
Saviour,  who  is  called  the  Xoyi^y  or  the  PFord  of  God, 
might  appear  to  them  in  n  human  form,  and  didatc 
.a  divine  meflage.  Ar.d.fome  think  thofe  words  of 
our  Saviour,  John  x.  35.  '  If  he  called  them  gods 
tinto  whom  the  Word  of  God  c;gmei'  may  have  a 
reference  to  Chrift's  own  appearance  to  the  prophets, 
as  this  glorious  perfon  called, the  fFord. 

I  do  not  remember  any  places  which  feem  to  fa- 
vour this  fentiment  fo  much  as  thefe  three,  viz.    i. 
Gen.  XV.  i.    *  The  Word  of  the  Lord  came  unto 
Abraham  in  a  vilion,  faying,  Fear  not,  Abraham,  I 
am  thy  fliield  and  thy  exceeding  great  reward.'     2. 
Gen.  xxxii.  24,  28.   '  There  wreflled  a  man  with  Ja- 
cob till  the  breaking  of  the  day;  and- he  faid,  Thy 
name  Ihall  be  called  no  more  Jacob,  but   TfraeL* 
Concerning  which  appearance,  it  is  recorded,  i  Kings, 
xviii.  31.*  The  Word  of  the  Lord  came  to  Jacob, 
daying,  Ifrael  fliall  be  thy  name.*     And  3.     In;the 
beginning  of  the  book  of  Jonah,  Chap.  j.  ver.  i,  2, 
3,    *  Now  the  Word  of  the  Lord  came  unto  Jonah 
the  fon  of  Amittai,  faying,  Arife,  go  to  Nineveh, 
that  great  city,  and  cry  againft  it.     But  Jonah  rofe 
■up  to  flee  unto  Tardiidi  from  the  prefence  of  the 
Lord,  and  he  found  a  lliip,  and  went  down  into  it  to 
go  unto  Tarfhiili  from  the  prelence  of  the  Lord.* 
Now  if  Jonah  had  only  an  inward  infpiration  and  no 
•vifion,  how  could  he  imagine  that  he  could  flee  from 
this  infpiration  by  changing  his  place?  and  vvhylhould 
it  be  expreffed  that  '  he  fled  from  the  prefence  of  the. 
Lord,'  unle|^,  God  had  manifefled  fome  vKible  pref- 
,ence  to  him  ? 

Yet  on  the  other  hand,  when  I  read,  Micah  i.  i. 
J*  The  word  of  the  Lord  which  came  unto  Micah, 

whicti 


^6  Viftble  Appearances  of  Disc.  I. 

which  he  favv  concerning  Samaria  and  Jerufalem  ;' 
and  when  I  read  alfo,  Amos  i.  i.  '  The  words  oY 
Amos  which  he  faw  concerning  Ifrael ;'  I  am  a  httk 
incHned  to  think,  that  this  expreflion  in  Jonah  might 
be  an  Hebrew  idiom  of  fpeech  among  the  prophets, 
attributing  a  fort  of  vifible  prefence  metaphorically 
to  the  '  word'  or  '  words  of  God*  which  came  to 
them  by  inward  infpiration,  or  perhaps  by  a  voice  : 
pr  it  may  be,  the  things  themfelves  which  they  fore- 
t:old,  were  reprefented  to  their  imagination,  and  on 
this  account  the  *  word'  or  '  words  of  God'  may  be 
reprefented  as  vifible.  But  I  leave  this  matter  as  a 
point  of  difficulty  not  fufficiently  determined. 

Zech,  i.  7.  *  In  the  fecond  year  of  Darius  came 
the  word  of  the  Lord  unto  Zechariah,  faying,'  ver. 
8.  '  I  favv  by  night,  and  behold  a  man  riding  upon  a 
red  horfe,  and  he  flood  amongft  the  myrtle  trees, 
and  behind  him  were  red  horfes  fpeckled  and  white,' 
Ver.  9.  '  Then  faid  I,  O  my  Lord,  what  are  thefe  ? 
And  the  angel  that  talked  with  me  faid,  I  will  (hew 
thee  what  thefe  be.'  Ver.  10.  '  And  the  man  that 
flood  among  the  myrtle  trees  faid,  Thefe  are  they- 
whom  the  Lord  hath  fent  to  walk  to  and  fro  through 
the  earth.'  Ver.  11.  *  And  they  anfwered  the  angel 
of  the  Lord  that  flood  among  the  myrtle  trees,  and 
faid.  We  have  walked  to  and  fi:o  through  the  earth, 
and  behold  all  the  earth  fitteth  flill,  and  is  at  reft.' 
Ver.  12.  *  Then  the  angel  of  the  Lord  anfwered  and 
faid,  O  Lord  of  Hofts,  how  long  wilt  thou  not  have 
mercy  on  Jerufalem,  and  on  the  cities  ot  Judah, 
againll  which  thou  hafl  had  indignation  thefe  three- 
fcore  and  ten  years  ?'  Ver.  13.  '  And  the  Lord,'  that 
is,  Jehovah,  '  anfwered  the  angel  that  talked  with  me 
with  good  words  and  comfortable  words^  Ver.  14. 
'  So  the  angel  that  communed  with  me  faid  unto 
me,  Cry  thou,  faying.  Thus  faith  the  Lord  of  Hofts, 
\  am  jealous  for  Jerufalem,'  &c.     Here  obferve,  this' 

angel 


Sect.  I.  Ch'iji  as  God.  -jj^ 

Angel  of  the  Lord  that  flood  among  the  myrtle  trees 
had  the  form  of  a  man,  ver.  8.  and  is  not  called  Je- 
iiovah.  He  feems  to  be  our  blefled  Saviour  inter- 
ceding for  Jerufalem  ;  for  we  do  not  find  common 
angels  introduced  as  interceflbrs  in  fcripture  ;  '  there 
is  but  one  mediator  between  God  and  man,  the  man 
Chrift  Jefus.'  And  the  Lord,  or  Jehovah,  anfw.er- 
,cd  him  comfortably.  Perhaps  this  anfwer  of  the 
Lord,  or  Jehovah,  was  a  voice  without  any  figure  or 
appearance  :  but  after  all,  it  is  difficult  precifely  to 
leprefent  this  whole  fcene,  and  to  adjuft  every  part 
of  thefe  tranfa£tions.  There  feems  to  us  to  be  fome 
£onfufion  in  it,  for  want  of  knowing  the  various 
wa5^s  and  methods  of  God's  diicovery  of  himfelf  and 
his  mind  to  the  prophets. 

Zech.  iii.  i.  *  And  he*  (that  Is,  one  of  the  angels 
whom  he  fpake  of,  cliap.  ii.  4.)  *  fhewed  me  Jofliua 
the  high  prieft  ftanding  before  the  angel  of  the  Lord, 
and  fatan  flandinof  at  his  right  hand  to  refift  him.* 
Ver.  2.  '  And  the  Lord,'  Jehovah  '  faid  to  fatan, 
the  Lord,'  Jehovah,  '  rebuke  thee,  O  fatan,  even  the 
Lord,'  Jehovah, '  that  hath  chofen  Jerufalem,  rebuke 
thee.'  Ver.  3.  '  Now  Jofliua  was  clothed  with  fil- 
thy garments,  and  flood  before  the  angel.'  Ver.  4. 
*  And  he  anfwered  and  fpake  unto  thofe  that  flood 
before  him,  faying,  Take  away  the  filthy  garments 
from  him  ;  and  unto  Jofliua  he  faid,  Behold  I  have 
caufed  thine  iniquity  to  pafs  from  thee,  and  I  will 
clothe  thee  with  change  of  raiment,'  &c.  Whether 
here  was  an  appearance  of  Jehovah,  or  whether  our 
Saviour  appeared  here  only  as.  a  man  or  an  angel, 
does  not  feem  plainly  determined  by  the  words. 

Having  thus  given  a  brief  abridgment  or  hiftorical 
parrative  of  the  feveral  appearances  of  God  to  men 
in  the  Old  Teftamen^,  i  proceed  to  make  thefe  few 
obfervations  or  remarks  upon  them,  or  rather  to  fet 
forth  in  one  fhort  view  the  occafional  obfervations 
wjiich  I  made  as  I  pad  along.  L  It 


|;8  Vifible  Appearances  of  Disc.  'L 

I.  It  is  evident  that  the  great  and  blclTed  God  ap- 
peared feveral  times  of  old  in  the  form  of  *  a  bright 
cloud'  or  '  flame  of  fire/  and  from  this  cloud  or  fire 
proceeded  a  voice,  afluming  the  moft  glorious  and 
Stwful  names  of  God,  viz.  ^he  Lord^  'Jehovah^  the 
■God  of  Abraham^  I  am  that  I  am,  &c.  whence  all 
that  faw  and  heard  -it  mud  naturally  infer,  that  the 
sreat  God  dwelt  in  a  moft  eminent  manner,  and  re- 
iided  in  that  bright  cloud  or  fire. 

II.  Sometimes  this  great  and  blefled  God  appear- 
ed in  the  form  of  a  man  or  an  angel.  And  indeed 
when  the  apparition  is  called  an  angel,  in  fe.veral 
places,  it  was  the  real  form  of  a  man,  becaufe  at  firft 
when  the  fpeflator  faw  it,  he  took  it  to  be  a  man 
indeed.  So  '  Abraham  faw  three  men,'  fo  '  Jacob 
wreftled  with  a  man,*  fo  Jofliua  and  Gideon  and 
Manoah  and  his  wife  .thought  at  firft  that  they  faw 
and  fpoke  with  a  '^  man,'  who  afterwards  appeared  to 
be  an  *  angel  of  the  Lord.'  But  it  is  evident  that 
the  true  God  fefided  or  dwelt  in  this  man  or  this 
ano-el,  becaufe  fometimes  he  calls  himfelf  God,  and  af- 
fumes  the  higheft  names  and  characters  of  Godhead  ; 
and  fometimes  the  fpedator  calls  him  Lord  or  Jeho- 
vah, and  God  j  and  fometimes  the  facred  hiftorian 
calls  him  "Jehovah  and  God.  And  there  are  fome  in- 
ilances  wherein  all  thefe  concur,  as  Gen.  xxviii.  and 
Gen.  xxxii.  compared  with  Hof.  xi.  and  Exod.  iii.. 
Now  if  thefe  things  are  a  proof  that  the  true  God 
refided  in  the  bright  cloud  or  the  fire,  when  he  fpoke 
from  thence,  it  is  at  leaft  as  good  a  proof  that  the 
jame  great  God  refided  in  the  angel  to  whom  the 
fame  things  are  attributed. 

III.  There  arc  feveral  inftances  of  the  appearance 
of  angels  who  do  not  aflume  to  themfelves  any  of  the 
names  or  characters  of  God  \  fo  that  it  is  evident 
that  it  was  not  the  cuftom  of  common  angels  when 

;vient  by  the  great  God  to  carry  meflages  to  men  to 

affums 


•JSect.  I.  Ckrijl  as  God.  59 

affume  divine  titles,  or  fpeak  with  an  air  of  divine 
'authority  in  themfelves,  without  the  preface  of — 
>  Thus  faith  the  Lord  :'  but  there  was  one  angel  pe- 
culiarly diftinguifhed  from  the  reft  '  in  whom  the 
name  of  God  was,'  as  Exod.  xxiii.  and  who  is  prop- 
,erly  called  the  *  angel  of  God's  prcfence.'  Ifai. 
ixiii.  and  '  the  prefence  of  God.'  Exod.  xxiii.  and 
*  the  angel'  emphatically,  as  in  Ecclef.  v.  6.  and 
who  is  very  probably  the  fame  with  the  melienger 
or  'angel  of  the  covenant.'  Mai.  iii.  i.  And  this 
alfo  was  the  common  opinion  of  the  ancient  Jews, 
^s  is  fliewn  in  a  Differtation  on  the  L^gos. 

It  may  be  further  obferved  alfo  under  this  head, 
that  fince  our  blelTed  Saviour,  who  is  the  '  angel  of 
the  covenant,'  came  in  the  flefh,  there  have  been 
many  appearances  of  other  angels,  viz.  to  the  (hep- 
herds,  to  Jofephj  to  Chrijl  himfelf ;  to  the  difciples, 
"viz.  to  women  at  the  refurredtion  of  Chrift,  and 
men  at  his  afcenfion,  to  St.  Peter,  to  St.  Paul,  to 
St.  John,  to  Cornelius,  and  perhaps  to  others  ;  but 
fiot  one  of  them  ever  alTumed  the  names,  titles, 
charaders,  or  worfliip  belonging  to  God. 

Thence  we  may  confirm  this  inference,  that  the 
'  angel'  who  under  the  Old  Teftament  affum.ed  di- 
vine titles,  and  accepted  religious  worihip,  v/as  that 
peculiar  '  angel  of  God's  prefence'  in  whom  God 
refided,  or  who  was  ynited  to  the  Godhead  in  a  pe- 
culiar manner,  even  the  pre-exiftent  foul  of  Chrift, 
who  afterward  took  flefh  and  blood  upon  him,  and 
was  called  Jefus  Chrift  on  earth. 

And  thercfqre  fince  his  incarnation  no  angel  has 
ever,  appeared  that  durft  call  himfeif  God,  and  af- 
fume  divine  titles,  or  accept  of  worfliip  ;  but  has 
father  exprefsly  forbid  the  worfliip  of  him  ;  as  Rev. 
xix.  10.  and  xxii.  9. 

iV.  Il  is  very  plain  and  obvious  to  every  reader, 
diat  one  of  the  moft  glorious  and  illuftrious  appari- 
tions 


69  Vifible  appearances  of  Disc.  I. 

-tions  of  the  great  God  (even  that  wherein  the  fer- 
aphs  adore  him  as  the  *  Lord  of  the  whole  earth,* 
and  who  '  filled  the  earth  with  his  glory,'  and  where- 
in Ifaiah  calls  him,  *  the  King,  the  Lord  of  Hofts') 
is  exprefsly  applied  to  our  Lord  Jefus  Chrifl:  in  the 
New  Teftament,  John  xii.  *  Thefe  things  faid  Efaias, 
when  he  faw  his  glory  and  fpake  of  him.'  Now  this 
may  be  a  key  to  explain  the  reft,  and  makes  it  very 
probable  .that  Chrift  was  the  perfon  who  thus  often 
appeared. 

V.  It  is  generally  agreed  by  all  Chriftlan  writers, 
iCven  from  the  moft  primitive  times,  that  God,  con- 
^dered  under  the  idea  and  character  of  paternity,  and 
in  the  perfon  of  the  Father,  is  always  reprefented  as 
invifible,  '  whom  no  man  hath  feen  nor  can  fee:'  but 
Jefus  Chrift  is  defcribed  as  '  the  image  of  the  invifi- 
ble God,  the  brightnefs  of  his  Father'^  glory,  the  ex- 
prefs  image  of  his  perfon,"*  he  in  whom  the  Father 
<lwells.  (*  I  am  in  the  Father,  and  the  Father  in  me.*) 
J^e  is  that  *  Word  of  God'  by  whom  -the  great  and 
bleffed  God  manifefts  himfelf,  and  his  mind  and  will, 
as  a  man  manifefts  his  mind  or  will  by  his  word.  He 
Teprefents  him.felf  one  with  God  the  Father  ;  *  I  and 
the  Father  are  one.'  And  St.  Paul  calls  him  *  God 
manifeft  in  the  flefti.'  Now  as  the  prophet  Ifaiah 
and  the  apoftle  John,  compared  together,  affure  us 
*hat  Chrift  was  the  perfon  who  appeared  in  one  of 
thefe  moft  glorious  and  illuftrious  appearances  of 
God  under  the  Old  Teftament ;  fo  there  is  the  moft 
-abundant  probability  from  all  thefe  things  confider- 
cd,  that  Jeius  Chrift  was  that  angel  who  generally  ap- 
peared in  ancient  times  to  the  patriarchs  and  to  the 
Jews,  afluming  the  peculiar  and  incommunicable 
names  of  God,  and  manifefting  the  invifible  God  to 
men. 

That  expreffion  of  St.  Paul,  i  Cor.  x.  9.  adds 
weight  to  this  argument,  *  Neither  let  us  tempt 

Chrift 


Sect.  f.  Chrift  as  God.  6t 

Chrlft  as  (bmc  of  them  tempted,  and  were  deftroyed 
by  ferpents.'  St.  Paul  well  knew,  that  when  God. 
fent  his  angel  to  lead  Ifrael  in  the  wildernefs,  he  bid; 
them  *  Beware  of  him,  provoke  him  not,  he  will  not 
pardon  your  lins,  for  my  name  is  in  him,'  And  the 
Apoftle  here  feems  plainly  to  refer  to  this  fame  per- 
fon,  this  angel,  even  Chrift,  whom  they  *  tempted' 
or  *  provoked,'  and  he  'did  not  pardon'  them,  but 
fent  *  ferpents  to  deftroy'  th«m  ;  and  yet  the  perfon 
who  was  thus  tempted  and  provoked,  is  alfo  called 
the  *  Lord  God.'  Deut.  vi.  i6.  *  Ye  fliall  not  tempt 
the  Lord  your  God,  as  ye  tempted  him  in  Maiiah.*^ 

VL  Thence  alfo  I  think  we  may  infer,  that  there 
is  fuch  a  peculiar  union  between  the  great  God  and 
the  man  Jefus  Chrift-,  in  his  angelic,  as  well  as  in  his 
incarnate  ftate,  as  that  he  is  properly  reprefented  as 
God-Man  in  one  complex  perfon.  He  that  was  *  the 
angel  of  the  prefence  of  God,'  and  in  whom  God 
dwelt  under  the  ancient  difpenfations,  has  now  took 
fiefh  and  blood  upon  him,  and  is  *  God  manifeft  in 
the  flefti ;'  he  that  is  of  '  the  feed  of  David,'  was  and 
*is  God  over  all  blefied  for  ever.    Amen.' 

To  all  this  let  me  fubjoin  fome  teftimonies,  both 
of  ancients  and  moderns,  as  they  are  cited  by  Bifliop^ 
Bull  in  his  Defence  of  the  Nicene  Faith,  Se6t.  i. 
Chap.  I.  §  II. 

Tr}'-pho,  the  Jew,  in-  his  dialogue  with  Juftin  Mar- 
tyr maintains,  that  there  were  two  prefent  in  the  ap- 
pearance made  to  Mofes  in  the  burning  bulh,  viz. 
God  and  an  angel ;  that  the  angel  appeared  in  ther 
flame  of  fire,  and  that  God  in  the  angel  fpake  with 
Mofes,  To  which  Juftin  replies,  that  that  may  very 
well  be  granted  according  to  the  Chriftian  dodrine. 
And  indeed  Tr}'pho.'s  opinion  feems  to  have  been 
generally  received  and  approved  amongft  the  more 
ancient  Jews  ;  for  Stephen  teaches  us,  it  was  an  an- 
gel who  appeared  to  Mofes  in  the  bufti.  Ads  vii.  30. 

and 


62  Fifihk  Appearances  of  Disc.  f. 

and  yet  that  God  hlmfelf  fpake  thefe  words  to  Mofes, 
ver.  31,  32,  33.  '  I  am  the  God  of  thy  fathers,  the 
God  of  Abraham,  &;c.  compare  Exodus  3.  2.  with- 
ver.  4,  5,  6. 

Athanafms,  Orat.  4.  contra  Arianos.  He  that  ap- 
peared was  an  angel,  but  God  fpoke  in  him. 

Clemens  Alexandrinus.  The  Son  of  God  who  led- 
Moles  was  an  angel,  bringing  with  him  the  evangeli- 
cal and  princip?i;l  pov^cr  of  the  Word  :  a  little  after  he 
adds,  the  Lo^os,  or  IV^ord^  was  an  angel :  and  he  calls- 
the  Son  of  God  the  myfiical  Angel. 

Auftin  contra  Maxim.  Lib.  3.  fays,  I  afk  who/ 
appeared  to  Mofes  in  the  fire  ?  The  fcripture  itfelf 
declares  it  was  an-  angel  appeared  ;  but  that  God- 
was  in  that  angel,  wha  can  doubt  ? 

Gregory,  in  his  preface  to  Job  2d,  fays.  The  angel 
who  appeared  to  Mofes  is  fometimes  called  an  angel, 
and  fometimes  God  ;  when  he  that  tpeaks  outwardly 
is  governed  by  him  that  is  within,  he  is  called  aa 
angel^  to  fignify  his  obedience,  and  the  Lord,  to  de- 
note the  infpiration. 

And  Grotius  himfelf,  on  Gal.  iii.  19,  confeffes  that 
he  who  gave  the  law  in  Sinai  was  a  fingular  or  fpec- 
ial  angel,  attended  by  other  angels ;  yet  not  a  mere 
angel,  but  one  with  whom  the  Logos  was  prefent. 
Now  it  is  well  known,  that  by  the  Logos,  Grotius 
nieans  the  Divine  PVord,  or  IVifdom, 

SECT.       II. 

The  Difficulties  relating  to  this  Account  of  the  Appear- 
ances of  God  under  the  Old  Tefiament,  relieved  and 
adjufcd. 

OhjeEi.  I.  O INC E  the  true  God  appeared 
and  refided  in  the  fiery  bufh,  in  the  flame  on  Mount 
Sinai,  in  the  pillar  of  cloud  and  fire  that  conducted 

the 


Sect.  TI.  CJirifi  as  God.  %j 

the  Ifraelites,  and  in  the  bright  light  that  flione  Tome- 
times  at  the  door  of  the  tabernacle,  and  then  dwelt 
on  the  mercy-feat  between  the  cherubim  ;  the  So- 
cinians  fay.  Why  may  not  any  of  thefe  things  be  call- 
ed the  tnte  God,  or  Jehovah,  as  well  as  the  angel  in. 
whom  God  dwelt  ?  And  efpecially  fince  God  i[)ake 
out  of  the  midfi:  of  this  cloud  or  fire,  as  well  as  he 
fpake  by  the  angel,  fo  that  all  thefe  were  reprefenta- 
tives,  fymbols>  or  tokens  of  the  prefence  of  the  true 
God. 

And  this  objedion  of  the  Socinlans  may  be  further 
enforced,  when  we  confider,  that  when  this  bright- 
cloud  moved,  God  is  faid  to  move  ;  where  this 
bright  cloud  dwelt  or  refbed,  God  is  faid  to  dwell  or 
reft.  God  himfelf  is  faid  to  *  go  before  the  Ifraelites' 
in  the  wildernefs  when  the  cloud  went  before  them, 

*  God  dwelt  in  the  bulh'  when  the  fire  was  there, 
God  is  faid  to  *  dwell  between  the  cherubim,'  PfaL 
Ixxx.  I.  becaufe  the  bright  light  was  there.  '  God 
is  gone  up  with  a  fhout,  the  Lord,'  i.  e.  Jehovah, 

*  with  the  found  of  a  trumpet,'  Pfal.  xlvii.  5.  when 
the  ark  where  God  dwelt  was  carried  up  to  Sion  : 
and  upon  this  occafion  David  addrelTes  God,  Pfal. 
Ixviii.  18.  '  Thou  haft  afcended  on  high,'  when  the 
ark  was  carried  up  to  the  '  hill  which  God  defired  tQ 
dwell  in,' ver.  i6.  What  more  than  this  can  be  faid 
concerning  the  angel  ?  Or  what  greater  reafons  can 
be  given  why  this  angel  Ihould  be  called  God,  rath- 
er than  the  cloud  or  fire,  which  alfo  might  be  call- 
ed God  in  a  figurative  fenfe,  becaufe  they  were  fym- 
bols  of  the  divine  prefence  ? 

Anfw.  In  order  to  fet  this  matter  in  a  true  Iight> 
we  may  confider  the  following  things. 

I.  Whatfoever  be  our  conception  of  the  dfftinft 
perfonalities  in  the  divine  nature,  yet  the  Godhead 
has  been  generally  allowed  to  be  one  and  the  fame 
ia  all  the  three  perfoas.    If  tlierefore  Chrifl  be  God, 

he 


64  Vifi'blc  Appearances  of  DiSc.  f. 

he  is  the  fame  one  God  as  the  Father,  i.  e.  he  has 
the  fame,  and  not  another  Godhead. 

2.  Whenfoever  this  great  God  is  faid  to  appear 
in  fcripture,  it  is  generally  attributed  to  Jefus  Chrift, 
or  the  fecond  perfon  in  the  facred  Three.  This  is 
agreed  both  by  Arians  and  Athanafians  :  and  there 
is  this  reafon  for  it,  that  God  under  the  perfonality 
of  the  Father  may  always  maintain  the  character  of 
'  the  invifible  God.'  The  ancients  of  all  parties  were 
united  in  this  fentiment. 

3.  God  frequently  manifefced  himfelf  or  appeared 
to  men  under  the  Old  Teftament  in  and  by  a  corpo- 
real relemblance,  as  inhabiting  in  a  cloud,  or  light,  or 
fire,  and  fometimes  he  raanifefted  himfelf  alfo  to  merr 
as  reliding  in  or  inhabiting  a  man  or  an  angel  under 
the  Old  Teftament  5  for  fo  he  appeared  to  Abraham, 
to  Jacob,  Sec.  Whatfoever  created  being  God  re- 
lided  in,  this  was  called  the  Shechinah,  or  habitatiori 
of  God.  If  it  was  a  bright  light  or  fire,  it  was  a  cor- 
poreal Shechinah.  If  it  was  a  man  or  an  angel,  it 
might  be  called  an  intelledual  Shechinah,  and  moft 
probably  in  an  human  form.* 

4.   Whatfoever 

*  The  Hebrew  word  Shechinah  Signifies  a  hal^tation  or  dwell- 
ing, and  it  was  the  name  which  the  ancient  Jews  gave  to  that  bright 
cloud  or  fire  wherein  God  dwelt  upon  the  ark  between  the  cherubim, 
and  in  which  he  often  appeared  to  the  patriarchs  and  to  Mofes.  They 
alfo  gave  the  fame  name  of  Shechinah  to  the  glorious  Spirit  in  and 
by  which  God  a<5led  or  manifefted  himfelf  to  men,  whether  in  a  vifi- 
ble  or  invifible  manner  ;  that  is,  whether  he  came  with  a  cloud  of 
light,  or  with  a  voice,  or  only  by  filent  and  fecret  influences  :  for 
they  call  this  Shechinah  by  the  names  of  Mamrey  Logos,  or  the  Word 
of  God,  and  they  not  only  fuppofe  this  Shechinah  to  take  pofTeffion 
of  the  tabernacle  and  the  temple,  and  to  refide  there  in  the  form  of 
light,  but  it  was  a  faying  among  them, '  That  where  two  or  three  are 
met  together  to  read  or  ftudy  the  law,  the  Shechinah  is  with  them,' 
(though  in  an  invifible  manner  ;)  which  is  parallel  to  the  words  of 
Chrift,  *  Where  two  or  three  are  gathered  together  in  my  name,  there 
am  I  in  the  midft  of  them,'  Matt,  xviii.  20.  See  Diflert.  4.  on  the 
Logos,  Sedt.  iii.  p.  25. 


^ECT.  ti.  Chriji  as  God.  65 

4.  Whatfoever  habitation  God  aflumed,  that 
habitation  itfelf  (whether  corporeal  or  intelledlual) 
is  not  called  God  merely  upon  the  account  that  God 
refided  there,  unlefs  you  include  alfo  the  divine  in- 
habitant, that  is,  God  himfelf :  So  that  neither  the 
cloud,  nor  the  bu{h,  nor  the  fire,  nor  the  man,  or 
angel,  arc  ever  reprefented  as  God,  or  called  Jehovah, 
without  including  the  idea  of  that  Godhead  that  re- 
fided  or  inhabited  in  them.  So  when  it  is  faid, '  God. 
is  gone  up  with  a  fliout,'  Ffal.  xlvii.  it  doth  not 
mean  merely  the  ark  which  ivas  carried  up  to  Zion, 
but  God  dwelling  oxi  the  ark  or  the  mercy-feat. 
And  in  the  fame  manner  the  geftures,  motions  and 
appearances  are  afcribed  to  God,  which  were  viflblc 
in  that  body  in  which  God  at  that  time  refided,  and 
which  he  made  the  fymbol  of  his  prefence  :  but  this 
body  is  never  called  God  when  taken  alone,  without 
including  the  prefent  Godhead  or  almighty  Spirit 
refiding  there. 

5.  Hence  it  will  follow,  that  the  words  God^  Lord, 
Almighty,  yehovahy  w^hich  are  ufed  in  Scripture  on 
thefe  occafions,  are  not  funk  into  a  figurative  or  di- 
minutive fenfe  on  purpcfe  to  be  applied  metaphori- 
cally to  a  cloud,  a  fire,  or  an  angel,  as  a  refemblance 
or  emblem  of  the  true  God,  or  as  a  fymbol  of  his 
prefence ;  but  thefe  divine  names  and  titles  are  pre- 
ferved  in  their  original  and  rnoft  fublime  and  divine 
fenfe,  and  applied  to  God  himfelf,  confidered  in  and 
together  with  thefe  his  habitations  or  places  of  ref- 
idence. 

6.  It  is  very  probable  that  the  great  God  never 
refided  (if  I  may  fo  fpeak)  immediately  in  any  cor- 
poreal habitation  Vs^ithout  the  medium  of  an  angelic* 

or 

*  Note,  Though  in  fcreral  places  I  reprefent  Chrift  in  his  pre- 

tfxiftent  ftate  as  an  angel  according  to  fcripture,  yet  I  always  fuppofe 

this  pre-exiftent  foul  of  Chrift  to  be  a  proper  human  fpirit,  i.  e.  fuch 

afpirit  as  by  its  own  nature  is  iuited  to  aft  in  yital  union  with  ^ 

^  bumai* 


t'6  Difficulties  of  thefe  t)i%c.t. 

or  intellednal  being  by  whom  he  fpokc  and  acted, 
and  b}^  whom  he  moved  this  corporeal  habitation  a's 
he  pleafed.  We  have  good  reafon  to  fuppofe  that 
the  '  angel  of  God's  prefence/  the  *  angel  of  the 
covenant,'  *  the  angel  in  whom  was  the  name  of 
God,'  was  {liir  the  more  immediate  Shechinah  or' 
refidence  of  God,  whether  he  dwelt  mediately  in  a 
cloud,  or  light,  or  fire,  or  a  huma-n  fhape.  And  on 
this  account  in  the  narration  of  the  fame  tranfaftioh 
it  is  exprefled  fometimes  that  the  '  angel  of  the  Lord 
appeared,'  and  fometimes  the  *  Lord  God*  himfelf 
*  appeared,'  ex.  gr.  to  Mofcs  in  the  bufh,  to  Abrat- 
ham,  &c.  The  names  God,  or  the  Lord,  or  the  an- 
gek  are  ufed  promifcuoufly  in  thefe  narratives. 

Thus  it  was  not  properly  the  cloud,  light,  or  fire» 
but  the  angel  who  was  intimately  and  immediately 
united  to  Godhead  j  and  it  was  this  angel  who  af- 
fumed  the  names,  titles  and  charafters  of  God\,  Lord, 
and  Jehovah  :  for  we  may  reafonably  fuppofe  that 
the  union  between  God  and  this  glorious  angel, 
(that  is,  the  pre-exiftent  foul  of  Jefus  Chrift  in  its 
non-incarnate  or  angelic  ftate)  was  incomparably 
more  near  and  intimate  than  the  union  of  the  great 
God  with  a  pillar  of  cloud  or  fire  :    and  upon  this 

account 

human  animal  body.  Thefe  things  are  proved  at  large  in  the  h(t 
of  thefe  difcourfes.  The  reafon  why  he  is  called  an  angel,  is 
partly  bccaufe  he  was  then  an  unbodied  fpirit,  and  lived  as  angels  do^ 
not  united  to  an  animal  body  ;  and  partly  becaufe  he  was  fent  iS 
the  Father's  meffenger,  which  is  the  meaning  of  the  word  an^d  in 
the  original  languages,  Greek  and  Hebrev/. 

Note  further,  Tliat  this  does  not  at  all  hinder  the  human  foul  of 
Chrift  from  having  intelledual  capacities  and  powers  vaftly  fuperior 
to  any  other  human  foul,  or  to  any  angel  in  heaven,  even  as  the  ca- 
pacities and  intelledual  povers  of  one  man  are  vaftly  fuperior  to  an- 
other, as  the  foul  of  Milton  or  Sir  Ifaac  Newton  to  an  idect  ;  and 
efpecially  while  we  confider  this  human  foul  as  conftantly  inhabited, 
by,  and  perfonally  united  to  the  eternal  Godhead,  we  have  abundant 
?eafon  to  fuppofe  h:s  human  faculties  fuperior  to  thofe  of  any  othcc 
ereatur*. 


Sect.  II.  Appearances  adjufied.  ^7 

account  the  angel  may  be  called  God  in  a  more  prop- 
er manner  than  the  fire,  cloud  or  bufh  could  ever  be, 
becaufe  of  the  intimacy  of  the  union  which  made 
God  and  this  angel  one  complex  perfon. 

7.  None  of  the  corporeal  appearances,  or  habita- 
tions of  God,  viz,  the  cloud,  the  light,  the  fire,  are 
faid  in  fcripture  to  fpeak  to  man,  it  is  only  faid,  that 

*  God  fpake  out  of  them.'  The  cloud,  the  fire,  the 
bufh,  are  never  faid  to  aflume  thefe  names  or  titles, 

*  1  am  the  Lord,  I  am  God  Almighty,  I  am  the  God 
of  llrael.'  But  now  the  angel  who  appeared  fpeaks 
to  men,  and  he  affumes  thefe  divine  names  and  titles 
in  the  Old  Teftament,  as  is  abundantly  evident  iri 
Exod.  iii.  and  in  other  places  ;  and  fo  doth  Jefus 
Chrifi;  in  the  New  Teftament,  Rev.  i,  and  ii.  and  iii. 

*  I  am  the  Alpha  and  Omega,  the  Beginning  and  the 
End,  the  Firll  and  the  Lad,'  &c.  Thence  we  may 
juftly  infer,  thefe  was  a  nearer  and  more  intimate 
.union,  between  the  Godhead  and  that  angel  than  be- 
tween God  and  the  cloud,  or  fire,  &c.  feven  fuch  art 
union  as  may  be  called  perfonal,  whereby  God  and 
the  angel  may  be  looked  upon  as  one  complex  intel- 
ligent agent  or  perfon  ;  and  thus  Chrift  may  be  call- 
ed (as  I  remember  one  or  more  of  thofe  learned 
writers  have  called  him)  the  God-Angel,  before  he 
was  complete  God-Man, 

8.  None  of  thefe  corporeal  appearance^  6r  habita- 
tions of  God,  neither  the  cloud,  nor  the  fife,  nor  the 
bright  light,  are  exprefsly  and  diredly  called  God  by 
the  holy  writers  in  a  categorical  and  expfefs  manner.- 
He  is  '  Emanuel,'  or  '  God  with  us :'  He  is  *  Jeho- 
vah our  righteoufnefs :'  He  is  '  God  over  all,  blefied 
forever  :'  which  further  fhews  a  more  intimate  union 
between  the  Godhead  and  the  man  Jefus,  than  there 
tvas  between  God  and  the  cloud  or  fire  ;  and  it 
Ihews  alfo  that  Chrift  is  a  complex  perfon  or  God- 
Man. 

E  2  9.'  Obfert* 


X>lfficulties  of  inefs  6is'cr.  \, 

9.  Obferve  alfo,  that  God  did  not  always  or  con- 
ftantly  dwell  in  the  feme  corporeal  habitation,  i.e. 
cloud,  or  fire,  but  God  conftantly  relided  in  this 
*angel  of  the  covenant,'  this  '  angel  of  his  prefence,* 
who  was  his  own  Son.  He  kept  the  fame  intellectu- 
al habitation  always,  though  he  frequently  changed 
his  corporeal  habitation.  God, who  was  always  unit- 
ed to  this  unbodied  human  fpirit  or  angel,  did  alfo 
fometiraes  afilime  a  cloud,  a  fire,  a  bufh,  or  the  fig- 
ure of  a  man,  to  appear  in  under  the  Old  Teftament, 
but  it  was  only  for  a  feafon  ;  and  thefe  were  only  fo 
many  ditferent  praludiwns  to  his  future  incarnation, 
or  dwelling  in  flefh  :  fo  that  the  angel  of  God's  pref- 
ence, or  human  foul  of  Chrift  in  his  angelic  (late, 
who  was  the  conftant  Shechinah  or  habitation  of  the 
Godhead,  v/as  '  one  with  God,'  and  might  be  much, 
better  called  God  than  the  cloud  or  fire,  which  were 
but  occafional  habitations. 

10.  When  this  glorious  angel,  (the  human  fpirit 
or  foul  of  Chrift)  together  with  his  divine  inhabitant 
the  indwelling  Godhead,  descended  from  his  angelic 
ftate,  and  was  made  actual  '  partaker  of  fleih  and 
blood,'  he  was  then  *  made  a  little  lower  than  the 
angels,'  Heb.  ii.  9.  He  took  human  flefh  into  a 
conftant  partnerfhip  of  his  perfon,  and  became  a 
man.  '  The  Word'  who  *  v*-as  God,  was  made  flefii,* 
John  i.  I,  14.  This  never  was  faid,  nor  could  it  ev- 
er properly  be  faid,  concerning  the  cloud  or  the  fire. 
When  God  was  manifeft  in  the  flefh,  this  flefli  w-as 
united  into  one  perfon  with  the  angel,  and  became 
the  human  or  bodily  Shechinah,  or  conftant  habita- 
tion of  God.  '  In  him  dwelt  all  the  fulnefs  of  the 
Godhead  bodily.'  Col.  ii.  Then  Jefus  Chrift,  who 
was  in  all  former  ages  the  God- Angel  in  a  proper 
and  complete  fenfe,  became  God-Man. 

Though  the  cloud  or  the  fire  could  not  properly 
be  called  God,  bccaufe  they  were  not  thus  united  in- 
to 


^ECT.  II.  Appearances  adjujled.  69 

to  one  perfon  with  God,  nor  in  the  angci  in  whom 
'God  dwelt,  yet  the  man  Jefus,  as  united  in  a  perfon- 
al  manner  to  the  divine  nature,  might  properly  be 
called  the  true  God.  It  could  not  be  faid  concern- 
ing the  cloud  or  fire,  that  they  were  affumed  to  be 
parts  of  the  perfon  of  Chrifc,  but  it  might  be  faid 
concerning  this  angel,  i.  c.  the  foul  of  Chriil,  and 
concerning  his  body,  th^y  were  parts  of  his  complex 
perfon  j  and  thus  Chrift  in  his  complex  perfon  hath 
the  names  of  Deity  and  humanity  given  him  ;  he 
:that  is  of '  the  feed  of  David  after  the  flelhi,  is  God 
.oyer  all,  ;blefled  for  evermore.    Amen,'     Rom.  ix. 

3'  4>  5- 

Obje^.  2.  Doth  not  the  Apoftle  to  the  Hebrews, 

chap.  i.  ver.  i,  2.  fufficiently  intimate,  that  this  an- 
gel by  whom  God  converfed  with  men  was  not  his 
own  Son  Jefus,  when  he  fays,  'God,  v/ho  at  fundry 
times  and  in  divers  manners  fpake  in  time  pad  unto 
the  fathers  by  the  prophets,  hath  in  thefe  lad  days 
fpoken  unto  us  by  his  Son  ?'  Does  not  this  imply 
'that  God  did  not  fpeak  '  by  his  Son'  under  the  Old 
Teftament  ? 

AnJ.  I.  We  may  anfwer  this  difficulty  thias  : 
Though  the  angel  who  revealed  the  will  of  God  to 
the  patriarchs  and  prophets  was  really  Jefus  Chrift  the 
Son  of  God,  yet  he  then  fpake  by  a  corporeal  me- 
dium and  organsj  which  he  aflumed  for  that  occafion 
to  form  a  voice,  which  medium  was  not  part  of  his 
perfon,  or  perfonally  united  to  him  :  therefore  the 
Son  of  God  did  not  fpeak  immediately  to  men  by 
himfelf,  i.  e.  by  his  own  perfon,  but  fpake  by  the 
prophets,  and  by  corporeal  iliapes,  &c.  Yet  when 
he  affumed  fielh  and  blood  adually  into  a  perfonal 
union  with  liimfelf,  when  he  made  this  fiefii  a  part 
of  his  perfon,  and  became  a  complete  man  by  a  mi- 
raculous conception,  then  he  was  more  completely 
the  Son  pf  God  both  in  foul  and  body,  and  then  a^ 

th^ 


5d  Difficulties  of  tjiffs  Disc.  I, 

the  Son  of  God  he  fpake  immediately  by  himfelf,  by 
his  own  complete  perfon,  (i.  e.  foul  and  body)  to 
mankind  ;  or  God  fpake  to  mankind  by  the  very 
perfon  of  his  Son,  which  was  never  done  in  the  fame 
manner  under  the  Old  Tellament. 

Nbr  is  this  any  ftrange  expofition,  for  the  ancient 
fathers  are  wont  to  fpeak  to  the  fame  purpofe  :  Juf- 
tin  Martyr  fpeaks  thus  in  his  apology,  "  The  Word 
foretold  things  to  come  by  the  prophets  heretofore, 
but  when  he  was  made  like  unto  us,  he  taught  us 
thefe  things  by  himfelf."  So  Clemens  Alexandrinus 
fays,  "  The  Lord  was  truly  the  inftrudor  of  the  an- 
cient people  by  Mofes,  but  he  is  the  guide  of  his  new 
people  by  himfelf  face  to  face.'*  See  Bifliop  Bull's 
Defence  of  the  Nicene  faith,  Se6t.  i.  Chap,  i, 

Anf.  2.  But  I  give  yet  a  further  anfwer  to  this 
objection  in  the  following  maimer,  viz.  Though  the 
angel  by  whom  God  fpake  to  the  prophets  and  to 
the  patriarchs  was  really  Jefus  Chrift  or  the  Son  of 
God,  yet  he  did  not  appear  at  that  time  under  his 
filial  character  as  God's  own  Son,  but  he  appeared  in 
his  angelic  charadler,  or  as  a  heavenly  metlenger, 
which  was  fuited  to  the  pre-exiftent  ftate  of  the  foul 
of  Chrift ;  whereas  under  the  New  Teftament  God 
fpeaks  to  us  by  his  Son  Jefus  Chrift  under  the  fpec- 
ial  and  known  charafter  of  *  his  own  Son,'  as  being 
now  revealed  to  have  been  the  *  only  begotten  Sori 
of  God'  in  his  pre-exiftent  ftate,  John  i.  14,  18.  and 
as  having  a  more  confpicuous  or  fenfible  chara6ter  of 
his  divine  Sonlhip  added  to  him,  by  his  bein^  born 
pf  a  virgin  without  an  earthly  father,  by  the  imme- 
diate influence  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  Luke  i.  35.  and 
was  named  the  Son  of  God  on  this  account  ;  and 
had  alfo  a  further  claim  to  this  honourable  title,  Son 
of  God,  when  he  was  raifed  from  the  dead,  as  St.  Paul 
explains  that  expreffion  of  the  Pfalmift,  *  Thou  art 
piy  Son,  this  day  have  I  begotten  thee,*  Pfalm  ii.  6, 

compare^ 


j5iECT.  IL  Appearances  adjufted.  jt 

compared  with  Afts  xiii.  33.  and  is  tlierefore  called 
by  the  fame  Apoftle,  '  The  iirfl-born  from  the  dead,' 
Col.  i.  15.  It  is  plain,  therefore,  that  though  Chrift 
was  the  Son  of  God  in  his  pre-exiftent  ftate,  yet  he 
appeared  and  aded  rather  under  the  charaftcr  of  an 
■angel  of  old,  and  not  under  the  character  of  a  Son 
till  the  days  of  the  gofpel. 

It  is  the  frequent  cull;om  of  fcripture  to  fpeak  of 
things  as  they  appear  to  men,  and  not  always  juft  a$ 
they  are  in  themfelves,  for  this  is  moft  fuited  to  the 
bulk  of  mankind.  Therefore  the  fcripture  fpeaks  of 
the  '  fun's  riling  and  going  down'  and  its  '  rejoicing 
to  run  a  race,'  and  of  the  '  heavens  being  fixed  upon 
pillars,'  &G.  which  are  all  modes  of  expreiiion  accord- 
ing to  appearance,  and  not  according  to  the  reality 
of  things.  So  when  the  angel  who  is  called  God, 
'  wreftied  with  Jacob,'  it  is  laid,  *  a  man  wreftled 
with  him,*  becaufe  he  appeared  as  a  man.  Gen.  iii, 
24.  So  '  three  men  came  to  4-braham,'  Gen.  xviii. 
Z.  becaufe  they  appeared  as  men,  though  one  of  them 
^ifterward  evidently  v/as  known  to  be  God,  and  the 
other  two  w^ere  angels.  And  fo  Chrifb  never  appear- 
ing to  the  patriarchs  and  prophets,  and  inftructing 
them  under  the  character  of  the  Son  of  God  in  the 
Old  Teftament ;  and  being  much  unknown  to  the 
world  under  that  name,  it  was  no  wonder  that  the 
Apoftle  Iliould  reprefent  God  as  beginning  to  fpeak  to 
us  '  by  his  Son'  under  the  New  Teftament.*  This 
method  of  folving  the  difEculty  will  have  an  happy 
influence  alfo  to  remove  the  following  objedion. 

Obje£i.  3.  Though  this  angel  fpake  oftentimes  in 
the  lume  of  God  under  the  Old  Te{]:ament,  though 

he 

*  The  Arlans  tliemfelyes  is  fhelr  fcheme  feem  to  be  as  macl^ 
puzzled  with  this  difScuky,  how  to  fuppofe  that  Chrift  as  an  angel 
gave  the  law,  and  yet  that  God  fpake  not  by  his  Son  till  under  the 
gofpel :  and  fome  of  them  are  forced  to  accept  of  this  fort  of  folu« 
tion.  See  Modejl  Pka,  P*rt  I.  So  l^hat  they  havis  so  rsdpn  to  pW 
Je^  it  a£*inft  us* 


7 2  Difficulties  of  thefe  Disc.  I. 

he  aflumed  the  glorious  titles  of  God,  and  fpoke 
words  which  muft  properly  belong  to  God,  yet  it 
does  not  follow,  that  this  angel  was  the  true  God,  or 
that  there  was  any  fuch  perfonal  union  between  the 
divine  nature  and  this  angel,  becaufe  there  are  other 
inftances  wherein  the  titles  and  names  of  God  are  af- 
fumed,  and  words  proper  to  God  are  fpoken,  where- 
in it  is  very  evident  from  fcripture  that  God  was  not 
the  fpeaker.  Confider  what  the  fcripture  declares 
concerning  the  giving  of  the  law  at  Mount  Sinai ; 
It  is  exprefsly  faid,  Exod.  xx.  i,  2.  And  '  Godfpakc 
all  thefe  words,  faying,  I  am  the  Lord  thy  God,*  &c. 
Yet  St.  Stephen  tells  them,  Acls  vii.  c,^.  '  They  re- 
ceived the  law  by  the  difpofition  of  angels.'  And  St, 
Paul,  Gal.  iii,  19.  fays,  *  The  law  was  ordained  by 
angels  in  the  hand  of  a  m-ediator.'  And  Heb.  ii.  2» 
it  is  exprefsly  called,  '  The  word  fpoken  by  angels,* 
and  diftinguifhed  from  the  '  word  fpoken  by  Chrifl.* 
'  If  the  word  fpoken  by  angels  was  fledfaft,  and  every 
IranfgrefTion  and  difobedience  received  a  jufl;  recom- 
penfe  of  reward,  how  fliall  we  efcape  if  we  neglect  fo 
great  falvation,  which  firft  began  to  be  fpoken  by  the 
Lord  ?'  Now  if  the  words  at  the  giving  of  the  law 
were  fpoken  either  by  the  perfon  of  the  Father,  or  by 
the  perfon  of  the  Son  of  God,  then  the  Apoflle's  ar- 
gument is  loft,  fince  it  is  built  upon  this  fuppofition, 
that  the  golpel  is  publiftied  by  a  perfon  fuperior  to 
him,  or  them,  who  publiflied  the  law.  But  the  Apof- 
tle's  argument  is  certainly  ftrong,  and  thence  it  will 
follow,  that  the  angel  who  fpoke  the  law  was  neither 
God  himlelf,  nor  Jefus  Chrift,  and  yet  he  alTumes  di- 
vine language,  '  I  am  iht  Lord  thy  God,'  &c. 

Anf.  It  was  not  only  the  fenfe  of  all  the  ancient 
writers,  ithe  moft  primitive  fathers  of  the  Chriftian 
church,  but  it  is  allowed  by  moft  of  the  Arians  them*- 
felves  who  make  this  objection,  that  Chrift  himfelf 
was  prefent  at  Sinai,  and  was  employed  in  giving  the 

lawv 


Sect.  H.  Appearances  adjufled.  .73 

law.  Pfal.  Ixviii.  17.  '  The  Lord  is  among  them  as 
in  Sinai,'  even  he  who  '  afcended  on  high,  and  led 
captivity  captive.'  Eph.  iv.  Now  the  law  may  ftill 
be  faid  to  be  '  giv^n,'  declared  or  publiilied  '  by  an- 
gels' who  attended  by  thoufands  as  miniftering  ipir- 
its  on  the  Lord  Chrift,  and  yet  the  words  might  be 
fpoken  by  Chrift  himfelf,  the  great  God- Man,  or 
God- Angel,  (or  the  'angel  in  whom  God<lwelt')  at 
the  head  of  them  ;  for  he  appeared  there,  not  as  the 
Son  of  God,  (for  he  was  then  utterly  unknown  un- 
der that  filial  name  or  charafter)  but  he  appeared  in 
his  angelic  character  as  the  great,  the  peculiar,  the 
extraordinary  '  angel'  or  mefTenger  '  of  the  covenant,* 
the  '  angel  of  God's  prefence,'  the  '  angel  who  fpakfe 
to  Mofes  in  Mount  Sinai,'  A<fls  i.  7,  8.  and  [pake 
to  the  people  alfo,  as  the  *  angel  in  whom  God 
dwelt,'  or  (which  is  much  the  lame)  as  the  great 
God  dwelling  in  an  angeL 

Nov/  in  the  New  Teftament,  when  this  glorious 
perfon  appeared  amongft  men  as  the  Son  of  God, 
when  he  was  difcovered  to  be  fo  in  his  body  by  his 
extraordinary  conception,  Luke  i,  35.  when  he  was 
further  made  the  Son  of  God  by  his  being  *  begotten 
from  the  dead,'  as  St.  Paul  explains  David,  Ads  xifi. 
33.  Col.  i.  18.  and  declared  '  with  power  to  be  the 
Son  of  God  by  his  refurre&ion  from  the  dead,'  Rom. 
i.  4.  vvhen  he  was  preached  by  the  Apoftles  as  the 

*  only  begotten  Son  of  God,'  both  in  his  incarnate 
and  in  his  pre-exiftent  ftate,  John  i.  14,  18.  he  fuf- 
tains  hereby  a  fuperior  character  to  that  of  an  angeJ, 
a  fervant,  or  mere  mefTenger  of  God,  even  that  of 

*  God's  own  Son  :'  and  if  '  the  word  fpoken  by  an- 
gels,' (or  by  Chrift  himfelf  in  his  angelic  ftate  and 
charadter,  attended   by  miniftering  angels)   if  this 

*  word  be  ftedfaft,'  and  if  all  tranfgreffions  againft  it 
were  feverely  puniftied,  *  how  lliall  we  efcape  if  we 
aeglect  fo  great  a  falvation,  which  began  to  be  fpo- 
ken 


y^  Difficulties  of  thefe  -Disc.  I, 

ken  by  the  Lord  ?'  i.  e.  by  the  fame  angel  in  his 
charader  of  Lordfliip,  lince  he  appeared  to  be  God's 
own  Son,  and  the  Heir  and  Lord  of  all,  not  as  an  an- 
gel or  mellenger,  but  as  fovereign  Lord  of  his  church. 
The  very  fame  perlon  may  have  much  greater  au- 
thority and  inilucnce  when  he  fuftains  a  new  and  fu- 
perior  charadcr. 

Perhaps  you  will  fay  then,  Why  did  not  the  Apof- 
tlc  represent  it  thus  ?  If  Chrift  was  that  angel,  why 
does  he  To  apparently  diftinguifh  him  from  the  '  an- 
gels who  fpake  the  law  ?'  1  anlwer,  Becaufe,  though 
the  Apollle  might  know  he  was  the  fame  perlon,  yet 
the  bulk,  of  the  people  to  whom  he  v/rote  might  not 
know  it,  nor  underfland  thefe  diflinct  characters  of 
the  fame  perfon,  and  it  would  take  up  too  much 
time  and  pains  to  prove  that  notion  to  them  in  that 
place,  nor  would  it  anf^ver  any  valuable  purpofe  at 
that  time  fufficient  for  fuch  a  digreffion. 

That  Chrift  himfclf  was  the  fpeaker  of  the  law  at 
Mount  Sinai,  may  be  further  evinced  out  of  Heb. 
xii.  25,  26.  '  Sec  that  ye  refufe  not  him  that  fpeak- 
cth,'  that  is,  Chrift  ;  '  for  if  they  efcaped  not  that 
refufed  him  that  fpake  on  earth,'  i.  e.  Mofes,  ('  for 
he  that  defpifed  Mofes's  law  died  without  mercy) 
much  more  ftiall  not  we  eicape,  if  we  turn  away  from 
him  that  fpeaketh  from  heaven,'  that  is,  Chrift  , 
for  it  was  he  who  came  perfonall;]^  down  from  heav- 
en, which  Mofes  did  not  ;  and  it  was  he  who  after 
his  death  fpake  by  an  audible  voice  to  St.  Paul  from 
heaven,  and  by  his  Spirit  to  all  the  Apoftles.  Chrift 
therefore  is  he  that  fpeaketh  from  heaven.* 

Now 

*  A  great  and  ingenious  writer  has  Tcry  lately,  in  his  EJfay  on 
the  various  Difbenfuilons  of  God,  p.  1 35 — 1 41 .  afferted,  that  he  who 
*  fljoke  on  eartfi,'  means  not  Mofes,  but  Chrift  hinifelf,  in  his  pie-ex- 
iftent  flate  under  the  charjider  of  an  angel  ;  and  that  he  who  ♦  now 
fpeaks  from  licavcn'  is  the  fame  perfon,  even  Chrift,  under  the  exalt- 
ed and  fupcrior  chiirafter  of  a  Son  j  this  is  very  agreeable  to  the  fen- 

temeats 


Sect.  II.  Appearances  adjiijled.  7^ 

Now  it  follows,  ver.  26.  *  Whofe  voice  then  (liook 
the  earth,'  that  is,  the  voice  of  Chrift,  and  not  r^ofes, 
which  ihook  Mount  Sinai,  which  *  quaked  greatly 
when  the  Lord,'  or  Jehovah,  '  defcendcd  upon  it^in 
the  fire.'  Exod.  xix.  18.  And  it  is  the  fame  perfon 
who  in  Haggai  ii.  6.  hath  now  promifed  (as  the 
Apoftle  cites  them)  faying,  *  Yet  once  more  1  fhake 
not  the  earth  only,  but  alio  the  heavens ;'  and  the 
prophets  tell  us,  this  is  the  Lord  of  Hofts.  The 
perlon  therefore  who  fpake  at  Mount  Sinai,  was  both 
Chrift  and  the  Lord  of  Hofts. 

Thus  we  fee  that  the  author  of  the  epiftle  to  the 
Hebrews,  is  ib  far  from  denying  that  Chrift  Ipake 
heretofore  in  giving  the  law,  that  he  declares,  '  it  was 
his  voice  that  ihookthe  earth'  at  Mount  Sinai  :  and 
by  this  view  of  things  it  appears,  that  we  have  no 
need  to  allow  common  angels  to  alfume  the  name, 
title  and  words  of  the  great  God  to  themielyes. 
And  thus  the  argument  ftands  firm  ftill,  whereby  we 
prove  that  this  *  angel  of  the  covenant,'  Chrift  Jefus, 
is  God  himfelf,  is  intimately  and  perfonally  united 
to  Godhead,  and  is  one  widi  God,  becaufe  he  af- 
fumes  divine  nam.es  and  titles,  and  fpeaks  the  words 
which  can  belong  only  to  God. 
-  It  might  be  added  alfo,  that  it  is  expreffed  fo  oftea 
and  fo  ftrongly  by  the  facred  hiftorian,  that  *  Gvod 
fpake  the  words'  of  the  law,  that  the  Ifraelites  *  heard 
God  fpeaking  to  them  out  of  the  fire,'  and  that  it 
*  was  the  voice  of  God,'  that  *  out  of  heaven  God 
made  them  to  hear  his  voice,'  and  that  they  might 
know  that  *  Jehovah  he  is  God  in  heaven  above,' 
Exod.  XX.  Deut.  iv.  10,  12,  33 — 39.  that  ail  things 

concur 

timents  advanced  under  the  anflvers  to  the  fecond  and  third  objec- 
tion ;  and  perhaps  may  be  the  very  trutli.  But  ftill  it  is  Chrift:  who 
is  that  Jehovah,  who  ipake  in  fire,  and  '  fhook.  the  earth'  at  Mount 
Sinai,  and  who  *  now  fpeaks  from  heaven.'  This  that  learned  author 
maintains  againfl  Mr.  Pierce  with  great  evidence,  p.  136 — 144.  an^ 
a^ainll  another  copfiderabk  writer,  p,  146 — i^6f 


y6  VJjJ^ctihiei  of  thfe  Disc.  T. 

concur  to  perfuade  us  that  the  angel  who  fpake  the 
words  was  alfo  Jehovah,  or  the  God  of  Ifrael. 

Objecf.  4.  Is  there  any  neceffity  that  we  (hould 
fuppofe  God  himlelf  to  be  thus  perfonally  united  to 
this  angel  who  appeared  under  the  Old  Teftament  ? 
Is  it  not  fufiicient  to  iuppore,  that  a  glorious  angel 
might  come  as  a  reprelentative  and  deputy  of  the 
great  God  ?  and  being  clothed  with  divine  authori- 
ty, and  reprefenting  the  facred  majefty  of  God, 
might  he  not  alTume  the  incommunicable  names  and 
titles  and  worihip  of  God,  as  being  God's  rcprcfentr 
ative  or  ambaffador  to  the  children  of  men  ? 

And  this  obie(5Lion  is  ytt  enforced  from  this  con^ 
fideration,  that  fonie  perfons  have  pretended,  that  ia 
the  eaftern  parts  fuch  as  delivered  meffages  from 
others,  did  ufe  to  fpeak  in  the  fame  manner  as  thole 
very  perlbns  would  have  done  in  whofe  name  they 
came,  for  which  fome  have  cited  one  or  two  hiftor- 
ical  pallages  out  of  the  bible. 

Anf.  See  this  fort  of  objedion  very  -well  anfwered 
by  the  ingenious  Mr.  John  Hughes,  of  Ware,  in  his 
rematrks  on  Dr.  Bennet's  Difcourfe  on  the  Trinity, 
p.  47.  And  many  other  authors  treating  on  this 
fubject,  have  given  fome  good  folutions  to  this  pre- 
tence. The  fubftance  of  what  I  have  to  fay  at  pref- 
ent  15  chiefly  borrowed  from  others,  and  fliall  be  dif- 
pofed  under  the  following  heads,  whereby  1  think  this 
difficulty  will  be  effedlually  removed. 

1.  The  inftances  which  have  been  brought  from 
the  fcripture  hiltory  of  *'  meffengers  fpeaking  in  the 
name  of  their  principals,  without  any  diftinguifliing 
preface,"  have  been  happily  expounded  in  another 
manner  by  learned  critics,  fo  as  to  cut  off  all  pre- 
tences of  this  kind,  and  all  foundation  for  this  objec- 
tion, which  would  be  too  large  to  repeat  at  prefent. 
See  Mr.  Hughes's  remarks, 

J.    Suppofing 


SscT.  fl.  Appearances  adjufid.  ff 

2.  Suppofing  that  fuch  a  conduft  might  be  cuf- 
tomary  between  man  and  man  in  common  affairs  of 
fife,  yet  when  was  it:  known  that  the  ambaffador  of 
an  earthly  monarch  ever  took  fo  much  upon  him, 
or  fpokc  in  this  language  ?  What  anibaifador  ever 
faid,  /  am  the  king  of  France  or  Spain,  or,  /  am  the 
kin?  of  Egypt  or  of  Babylon  ?  What  ambaiTador  did 
ever  receive  fuch  honours,  as  that  his  mafter  could 
receive  no  higher  if  he  were  perfonaliy  prefent  t 
What  prince  would  ever  endure  any  thing  like  this 
to  be  done  by  or  to- his  reprefentative  ?  When  Rab- 
iliakeh  was  fent  with  a  threatening  commifTion  fi:oni 
Nebuchadnezzar,  he  does  not  himfelf  affjme  the- 
wordsofhis  prince,  Ifai.  xxxvi.  4,  12,  13.  for  '  Rab-< 
fhakeh  faid,  Thus  faith  the  great  king,  the  king 
of  AlTyria,  What  confidence  is  this  wherein  thou 
trufteft  ? '  and  again,  '  Hear  ye  the  words  of  the  great 
king,  the  king  of  Affyria  :'  and  again,  '  My  maf- 
ter hath  fent  me  to  fpeak  tbefe  words/  Thus  nei- 
ther in  eaftern  nor  weftern  nations  do  we  find  ambaf- 
fadors  ufe  the  ftyle  and  affume  the  na.iic  and  honour  ^ 
of  their  princes  to  themfelves :  and  who  can  believe 
that  the  only  ambaffador  that  calls  himfelf  by  his 
mafter's  name,  affumes  his  mafter's  titles  and  ftyle 
to  himfelf,  and  receives  the  homage  that  Is  due  to 
him,  fliould  be  the  ambaflador  of  the  great  God,  the 
Creator  and  Lord  of  the  world  ?  But  this  leads  me- 
to  the  third  confideration. 

3.  If  this  were  ever  pradlifed  by  the  ambaffiidors 
of  earthly  princes,  yet  it  would  by  no  means  follow, 
that  a  melTenger  from  the  great  and  eternal  God, 
the  King  of  heaven,  fhould  perfonate  this  great  God 
himieif  in  delivering  his  errands,  without  any  evident 
hints  to  diftine:u!Qi  the  ambaillidor  from  God  him- 
felf  There  is  an  infinite  diflance  between  the  great 
God  and  a  mere  creature,  even  the  moft  excellent 
cireiture,  and  that  when  it  is  employed  as  an  ambaf- 

fader 


ifi  bificulties  of  tliefe  feisc.  ?, 

facjor  for  God.  There  is  fome  proportion  between 
the  higheft  prince  and  the  loweft  of  mankind  ;  and 
therefore,  though  one  man  may  perfonate  another, 
yet  no  creature  can  with  fafety  to  God's  honour  or 
to  man's  duty  perfonate  the  great  God.  There  is  a 
much  greater  danger  in  miftaking  a  creature  for  God, 
and  paying  that  worfhip  to  a  creature  which  is  ap- 
propriated to  God,  than  there  is  in  miftaking  the 
meaneft  man  for  the  greatefl  monarch  :  one  would 
be  a  mifdemeanor  between  man  and  man,  the  other 
feems  to  be  plain  idolatry,  and  paying  the  pecuHar 
honours  of  Grod  to  a  creature. 

And  yet  fuch  a  miftake  feems  to  be  unavoidable,- 
if  a  creature  might  thus  aflume  divine  names  and  ti- 
tles to  himfelt  :  for  it  may  readily  be  fuppofed  that 
God  himfelf  might  alfo  aflume  a  vifible  appearance 
like  that  of  an  angel,  and  by  confequence,  without 
an  exprefs  revelation,  in  fuch  a  cafe,  it  would  be  im- 
poflible  to  diftinguifii  the  one  from  the  other^  i,  e.  to 
know  which  was  God  in  the  form  of  an  angel,  and 
v/hich  was  the  angel  perfonating  God.  Now  in  this 
•view  of  things,  religious  worfhip  muft  have  been 
either  neglected  to  the  real  Deity,  or  elfe  muft  have 
been  paid  to  an  angel.  Therefore  it  feems  no  way 
likely  that  the  great  God,  who  is  all-wife  and  all- 
o-ood,  lliould  fo  little  confult  his  own  honour,  or  the 
happinefs  and  duty  of  mankind,  as  to  indulge  fuch  a 
mirtake,  or  to  lay  unavoidable  foundations  for  it,  and 
temptations  to  it. 

4.  If  it  were  pofTible  in  the  nature  of  things,  that 
the  great  God  fhould  depute  a  creature  for  his  am- 
baffidor  or  reprefentative,  and  give  him  a  commiflion 
to  affume  divine  titles,  and  to  receive  divine  woribip, 
yet  God  feems  to  have  declared  in  his  word  that  '  he 
will  not  do  it,'  for  he  hath  declared  himfelf  to  be  a 
jealous  God,  jealous  of  his  own  name  and  honour, 
and  to  that  degree,  that  he  borrows  one  of  his  glori- 
ous 


Sect.  II.  Appim-ances  adjujte'd.  .y^ 

ous  titles  from  this  his  jealoufy,  Exod.  xxxiv.  14. 
*  Thou  fhalt  worfhip  no  other  God,  for  the  Lord  thy 
Godjwhofe  name  is  Jealous,  is  a  jealous  God.'  See 
Exod.  XX.  c,.  Deut.  iv.  24.  and  v.  9.  and  vi.  15. 
And  he  is  refolved  he  will  not  give  away  his  name 
and  glory,  nor  the  glory  of  his  name  to  any  other  be- 
ing. Ifai.  xlir.  8.  '  1  am  Jehovah,  that  is  my  name, 
and  my  glory  will  I  not  give  to-  another/  Mankind 
who  are  led  by  their  fenles  are  fo  prone  to  idolatry^ 
that  they  have  been  always  very  ready  to  take  occa- 
iion  to  idolize  and  worfliip  any  fenfible  appearances 
which  have  looked  any  thing  like  divine  ;  and  the 
great  God  our  Creator  knows  our  infirmity,  and. 
therefore  he  hath  declared,  that  he  '  would  not  give 
his  name  and  glory  to  another,'  efpecially  not  to  any 
fenfible  appearance,  left  he  fhould  give  too  ftrong  a 
temptation  to  men  to  praftife  idol-worfhip,  and  pay 
divine  honours  to  a  creature. 

'  5.  Mr.  Hughes,  in  his  difpute  with  Dr.  Bennet 
on  this  fubjeft,  p.  5^^,  declares,  that,  "  after  all  that 
flourifh  the  Doftor  had  made  upon  this  notion  of 
his,  that  "  divine  angels  \vere  wont  to  perfonate  the 
Deity,"  he  hath  not  in  reality  furnifhed  out  one  iin- 
gle  proof  thereof:  his  inftances  among  men  beinc*- 
•mere  overfights,  and  his  inftances  among  the  angels 
are  by  himlelf  declared  to  be  meant  only  of  Chrift^ 
the  *  angel  of  the  covenant,'  the  *  angel  of  God's 
prefence.'  He  acknowledges  it  was  Chrift  who  pe?- 
fonated  the  Divine  Majefty  at  thofe  times,  which  we 
do  not  find  (faith  he),  that  any  other  angel  ever  did^ 
though  fo  many  of  them  have  been  employed  as  the 
very  or  true  God's  ambaffadors  to  men." 

6.  The  ancient  Jews  would  by  no  means  allow  of 
this  notion  of  a  mere  angel's  aifuming  the  names  and 
titles  ot  God.  It  is  plain  by  the  opinion  of  Trypho, 
which  Juftin  Martyr  relates,  that  the  ancient  Jews 
fuppofed  "  God  himfelf  to  be  prefent  with  this  aw- 

gel  r 


is*  Dijfiadties  of  tJiefe  61  sc.  I^* 

gel  ;'*  for  that  they  never  dared  to  imagine  that  a 
mere  angel  would  call  himfelf  the  God  of  Abraham, 
Ifaac  and  Jacob,  and  would  admit  fuch  divine  hon- 
ours as  Moles  and  Abraham  and  Jofiiua  paid  to  him 
in  the  name  of  God.  "  Such  an  opinion  was  toc^ 
abfurd  and  horrid  for  them  to  entertain,"  as  Bifhop 
Bull  exprelFes  it ;  and  he  adds,  "  It  is  a  fort  of  im- 
piety to  imagine  that  angels  would  ever  affume  fuch 
a  dignity,  or  that  God  would  communicate  his  in- 
communicable name  to  them,  or  any  authority  for 
fuch  a  reprefentation  of  himfelf,  in  which  a  mere 
creature  aflumed  to  himfelf  all  thofe  things  which 
belonged  to  God." 

The  learned  Camero,  in  his  Annotations  on  the 
Hebrews,  Chap.  ii.  vcr.  2.  very  well  exprefTes  it  ; 
*'  Though  la/wyers  may  put  on  the  perfons  of  their 
clients,  yet  it  was  never  heard  that  an  ambaffador 
■when  he  delivers  the  commands  of  his  prince,  ever 
fpoke  otherwife  than  in  the  third  perfon,  My  prince 
fpeaks  this.  The  prophets  give  us  an  illuftrious 
teftimony  of  this  matter,  who  continually  introduce 
this  folemn  form.  Thus  faith  the  Lord.  And  in  vif- 
ions  angels  profefs  themfelves  to  be  fent  of  God.'* 
Grotius  himfelf  confelTes,  that  it  "  was  not  a  mer© 
angel  gave  the  law  in  Sinai,  but  an  angel  with  whorr¥ 
the  Logos,  or  Divine  Word,  was  prefent." 

This  objeftion  has  been  indeed  carried  on  further 
by  a  late  ingenious  writer,  by  xvay  of  fimilitude. 
*'  Suppofe  we  hear  of  king  George's  fpeech  to  the  par^ 
liament,  we  know  that  king  George  doth  not  fpeak 
it  himfelf,  but  gives  the  fpeech  to  my  Lord  Chan- 
cellor, and  he  reads  it :  now  if  a  man,  upon  hearing 
my  Lord  Chancellor  fpcak  thofe  words  to  the  par- 
liament, fhould  conclude  that  he  is  king  George,  he 
would  certainly  be  miftaken  :"  and  therefore  though 
an  angel  who  reprefents  God  almmes  divine  titles, 
WQ  cannot  infer  that  he  is  God. 


Sect.  II.  Appearances  adjtifled.  tt 

Anf.  I.  It  is  fufficiently  and  publickly  known, 
that  King  George  gives  the  fpeech  to  my  Lord 
Chancellor,  and  that  King  George  himfelf  alfo  is 
prefent  there,  and  vifible  on  the  throne;  and  on 
both  thefe  accounts  there  is  no  manner  of  danger  of 
our  miftaking  the  one  for  the  other.  But  if  King 
George  were  invifible,  or  did  not  appear,  and  my 
Lord  Chancellor,  arrayed  in  royal  robes,  aflumed 
the  title  and  ufed  the  very  words  of  the  King,  with- 
out any  preface  or  intimation  that  King  George  fent 
him  to  fpeak  thus,  how  fhouJd  any  ftrangers  know 
(unlefs  they  were  told)  that  this  was  not  the  King 
himfelf?  And  how  could  the  people  of  Ifrael  know, 
that  it  was  not  God  who  fpoke  the  words  of  the 
law  to  them,  when  the  bright  array,  and  the  title  of 
God  are  aflumed,  and  the  language  is  properly  the 
language  of  God. 

But  I  add,  fecondly,  if  the  Lord  Chancellor  not 
only  fpoke  words  belonging  to  the  King  without 
any  fuch  preface,  as,  Thus  faith  the  King  ;  if  he  not 
only  aflumed  the  proper  name  and  the  titles  of  King 
George,  the  King  himfelf  being  abfent  or  invifible, 
but  if  the  hiftorians  alfo  declared  that  it  was  King 
■George  that  fpoke  thefe  words ;  if  they  called  it  the 
voice  of  King  George,  and  if  the  fpedators  called 
him  King,  addrefled  to  him  as  King,  and  worfliipped 
him  as  fuch,  would  there  not  be  abundant  ground 
for  a  mofl:  pernicious  miftake  among  all  thofe  who 
in  after-ages  Ihould  read  this  hiftory  ?  Now  this  is 
the  prefent  cafe ;  Jehovah  or  God  himfelf  is  invifible, 
and  was  not  feen  by  eyes  of  flefh  ;  and  not  only  the 
angel  who  appeared  in  the  Old  Teftament  afTumed 
the  divine  names  and  titles  of  Jehovah  or  God 
himfelf,  without  any  diflinguifhing  preface  of  Thus 
faith  the  Lord,  but  the  facred  hiflorian  declares  to 
us,  it  was  '  God  appeared,'  and  it  was  *  God  fpake,* 
it  was  *  the  voice  of  God,'  even  of  Jehovah,  the  God 
F  •£ 


$z  Difficulties  of  thfe  Disci. 

of  Ifrael ;  and  the  perfons  alfo  with  whom  he  con- 
verfed,  viz.  Abraham,  Mofes,  and  the  children  of  If- 
rael, &c.  called  him  God  and  Lord^  and  worfliipped 
him  as  fuch.  Now  let  us  put  all  thefe  things  together, 
and  there  feems  to  be  an  unavoidable  occafion  given 
for  a  very  dangerous  miftake  to  all  the  readers  of 
this  hiftory,  if  God  himfelf,  even  Jehovah,  the  God 
of  Ifrael,  did  not  appear,  if  the  angel  who  appeared 
and  fpake  was  not  fo  inhabited  by  God,  fo  united  to 
God  and  fo  intimately  one  with  God,  as  to  lay  a  foun- 
dation for  all  this  reprefentation  of  things. 

All  thefe  confiderations  joined  together  in  this 
view,  appear  to  me  richly  fufficient  to  anfwer  the 
prefent  objed;ion,  and  to  preclude  the  notion  of  a 
common  angel  fent  in  the  name  of  God  and  alfum- 
ing  the  peculiar  titles  of  Godhead.  Surely  this  an- 
gel or  fpirit  was  God  himfelf,  i.  e.  was  intimately 
and  peribnally  united  to  the  God  of  Ifrael,  and 
thereby  became  one  complex  perfon  in  two  diftinct 
natures,  one  common  principle  of  intelligent  adion, 
and  had  a  right  to  thofe  divine  titles  according  to 
the  forms  of  language  in  all  nations. 

ObjeB,  V.  Though  it  fliould  be  allowed  that 
God  was  prefent  with  this  angel,  and  refided  in  him, 
and  fpake  by  him,  yet  is  this  fufficient  to  make  a 
perfonal  union  between  God  and  the  angel  ?  or  is  it 
ground  enough  to  fay  that  God  and  the  angel  were 
one  complex  perfon  ? 

Anfw.  The  moft  common  and  mof^  familiar 
idea  that  we  have  of  a  complex  perfon,  is  human 
nature  or  man,  who  is  made  up  of  a  foul  and  body. 
Let  us  now  corifider  whether  moft  of  thofe  mutual 
relations  or  communications  between  foul  and  body 
which  render  man  a  complex  perfon,  are  not  found 
in  this  glorious  perfon  compofed  of  the  great  God 
and  this  angel. 

Has  the  body  of  a  man  a  nearer  relation  to  his 
foul  than  any  other  body  in  the  world  ?   So  had  this 

angel 


S E  c  T .  IL  Appearances  adjiijled.  %^ 

angel  a  nearer  relation  to  God  than  any  other  crea- 
ture whatfoever.  Is  the  foul  faid  to  inhabit  the 
body  or  refide  in  it  conflantly  during  the  whole  term 
of  life  ?  So  did  God  conftantly  refide  in  this  glorious 
angel.  Does  the  foul  influence  the  body  to  its  chief 
"human  aftions  ?  So  did  God  influence  this  angel. 
Is  the  body  the  conftant  and  immediate  inllrument 
of  the  foul,  whereby  it  fpeaks  and  ads  and  conveys 
its  mind  to  men  ?  Such  was  this  angel  to  the  great 
God,  who  dwelt  in  him.  Is  the  body  obedient  to 
the  volitions  of  the  indwelling  foul  ?  Much  more 
is  this  angel  to  the  indwelling  God.  Is  the  foul 
immediately  confclous  of  many  of  the  motions  of 
the  body  ?  Much  more  is  God  immediately  con- 
fclous of  every  motion,  adion  and  occurrence  that 
relates  to  this  angel  ?  Are  the  properties  and  aflions 
of  the  body  fometimes  attributed  to  the  foul,  and  the 
properties  and  adtions  of  the  foul  fometimes  to  the 
body,  in  the  common  language  of  men  ?  So  in  the 
language  of  fcripture,  the  names,  titles  and  properties 
of  the  great  God  are  attributed  to  this  angel  i  the 
appearances,  fpeeches,  voice,  words,  motions  and 
adions  of  this  angel  are  attributed  to  God.  And  if 
man  upon  thefe  accounts  be  called  a  complex  perfon, 
made  up  of  foul  and  body,  for  the  fame  reafon  we 
may  fuppofe  that  the  great  God  and  this  *  angel  of 
his  prefence,'  make  up  a  complex  perfon  alfo  j  and 
this  is  properly  called  a  perfonal  union. 

Object.  VI.  If  it  was  Chrifl:  himfelf  who  fpoke  to 
Mofes,  Deut.  xviii.  i8.  when  '  the  Lord  faid,  I  will 
raife  them  up  a  Prophet  from  among  their  brethren 
like  unto  thee  ;'  if  it  was  Chrifl  himfelf  faid  in  Exod. 
xxiii.  20.  '  Behold  I  fend  an  Angel  before  thee,  be- 
ware of  him,  provoke  him  not,  for  my  name  is  in 
him ;'  if  it  was  Chrift  who  fpake  to  the  prophets, 
*  Behold,  faith  the  Lord,  I  will  raife  up  to  David  a 
righteous  Branch.'  Jer.  xxiii.  5.  And  if  Chrifl  be 
F  2  this 


^4  Difficulties  of  thefe  Disc.  L 

this  very  '  Prophet,*  this  *  Angel,*  this  '  righteous 
Branch,'  then  it  muft  be  interpreted  that  Chrift 
fays,  *  I  will  raife  up'  myfelf '  a  Prophet,'  &c.  *  I 
will  fend'  myfelf  '  an  Angel  before  thee,'  and  *  I  will 
raife  up'  myfelf  '  a  righteous  Branch  to  David  j* 
which  feem  to  be  ftrange  fort  of  interpretations. 

Anfw.  If  we  confider  that  throughout  all  the  Old 
Teftament  our  bleffed  Saviour  is  fuppofed  to  be  a 
complex  perfon,  and  if  we  conceive  of  him  as  the 
foul  of  Chrift  in  its  angelic  ftate  united  to  and  inhab- 
ited by  God  himfelf,  it  is  very  eafy  to  fuppofe  this 
glorious  perfon  fpeaking  in  the  name  of  the  indwell- 
ing Godhead,  which  is  his  fuperior  nature,  and 
foretelling  futurities  concerning  himfelf  in  his  inferi- 
or nature,  and  declaring  what  he  fhould  be  in  his 
inferior  economical  characters.  Or  we  may  fuppofe 
the  angel  in  whom  God  dwelt,  fpeaks  in  the  name 
of  God  the  Father,  as  the  great  fountain  and  author 
of  all ;  and  yet  this  angel  may  foretel  his  own  future 
appearances  and   tranfaftions   as  an   *  Angel,'  as  a 

*  Prophet,'  as  a  *  Branch  of  righteoufnefs,'  as  thwc 

•  Servant'  and  *  Meffengcr'  of  God  the  Father,  and 
the  appointed  '  Mediator'  between  God  and  man. 
Here  is  no  manner  of  darknefs  nor  difficulty  in  thefe 
ideas,  nor  has  this  interpretation  any  thing  ftrange 
or  harfh  in  it. 

Ohje£i.  VII.  If  this  angel  who  appeared  and  af- 
fumed  divine  names  and  titles,  were  fo  really  and 
intimately  united  to  the  true  God,  as  to  become  one 
complex  perfon,  and  all  this  were  fo  plain  and  fo 
evident  as  you  reprefent  it  to  be ;  then  the  Jewifti 
church  could  not  but  have  as  clear  a  knowledge  as 
we  have  of  this  dodrine,  that  the  two  perfons,  viz. 
the  Father  and  the  Son,  were  the  one  true  God  ;  and 
then  the  knowledge  of  this  article  is  not  the  peculiar 
privilege  of  Chriftians. 

Anjw,  I  am  perfuaded  that  fome  of  the  ancient 
Jews  and  the  patriarchs  did  believe  that  this  was  an 

angel 


Sect.  II.  Appearances  adjujied.  85 

angel  in  whom  the  great  God  or  Jehovah  refided  or 
inhabited  in  a  pecuHar  manner  :  particularly  when 
Jacob  faid,  *  I  have  feen  God,*  when  *  Mofes  was 
afraid  to  look  upon  God,'  when  Abraham  fpoke  to 
him  as  to  the  great  God  :  but  there  were  feveral 
things  wherein  their  light  was  deficient  and  very  imf^ 
perfed  if  compared  with  ours. 

I,  The  patriarchs  might  not  know  that  this 
angel  in  whom  God  dwelt,  and  who  was  thus  united 
to  God,  was  Chrift  the  Son  of  God,  or  the  Meffiah, 
the  great  Mediator  between  God  and  men  appointed 
for  the  reconciliation  and  falvation  of  the  world. 

z.  They  might  not  know  whether  this  union 
between  God  and  the  angel  was  conftant,  or  only 
occafional.  Though  they  might  fuppofe  him  to  be 
•an  angel  of  fuperior  rank,  by  his  being  made  fuch  a 
glorious  medium  of  God's  convcrfing  and  tranfa6t- 
ing  with  men  at  fpecial  feafons,  yet  they  might  not 
know  that  he  was  afTumed  into  fo  conftant  and  ev- 
erlafting  an  union,  and  withal  fo  very  near  and  fo 
very  intimate,  that  this  complex  perfon  fhould  be 
called  '  God  over  all  blefled  for  evermore,'  and  that 
there  fhould  be  a  conftant  and  mutual  communica- 
tion of  properties  between  the  one  and  the  other  in 
fpeaking  or  writing  of  them, 

3.  The  Jews  in  the  days  of  the  prophets  did  not 
know  half  fo  many  texts  of  the  Old  Teftament  to 
belong  to  Chrift  as  the  apoftles  have  taught  us. 

4.  I  might  add  alfo,  that  the  Jewifti  writers  in  la- 
ter ages  by  degrees  came  to  obtain  a  confufed  notion 
of  God's  tranfafting  his  affairs  with  men,  and  mani- 
fefting  himlelf  to  them,  by  his  Logos  or  IVord,  which 
fometimes  they  interpreted  as  his  own  eflential  wif- 
dom,  or  the  idea,  fcheme,  decree  of  all  things  that 
was  in  God ;  and  fometimes  they  made  it  to  lignify 
a  very  glorious  angel,  the  firft-born  of  every  creature, 
in  whom  God  dwelt,  and  by  whom  he  tranfafted 

his 


8  6  Difficulties  of  ihfe  Disc.  I . ' 

his  affairs  with  the  children  of  men.  And  though 
they  had  not  the  fame  clear  and  diftinct  ideas  of  thefe 
matters  as  the  New  Teftament  reveals  to  us  concern- 
ing the  union  of  God  and  man  in  one  complex  per- 
fon,  yet  in  their  writings  there  appear  many  hints 
and  intimations  of  this  kind,  as  I  have  proved  in  a 
differtation  on  the  Logos. 

And  indeed  I  know  not  any  thing  befides  this- 
fuppofition  that  can  give  fo  fair  and  reafonable  an 
account  how  it  comes  to  pafs  that  both  the  Gentiles 
and  Jews,  in  the  firft  age  of  Chriftianity,  did  not 
raife  perpetual  objcftions  againft  the  do6trine  of 
Chrift's  Deity,  i.  e.  his  being  fometimes  reprefented 
under  the  chara6lers  and  names  of  the  true  God ; 
and  why  they  did  not  always  quarrel  with  the  apof- 
tles  for  citing  fuch  texts  of  fcripture  as  plainly  refer 
to  the  true  and  effential  God  in  the  Old  Teftament, 
and  apply  thetn  to  Chrift  in  the  New  Teftament  ;  as 
in  Rom.  x.  Eph.  iv.  Hcb.  i.  &c.  But  this  fuppo- 
fition gives  a  very  fair  folution  of  it,  viz.  that  as  God 
appeared  and  refided  in  an  angel  heretofore,  fo  Chrift 
or  the  Mefliah  was  underftood  to  be  a  glorious  per- 
fon  or  fpirit  incarnate,  who  was  fpecially  inhabited 
by  God,  or  in  whom  Godhead  dwelt  in  a  peculiar 
manner,  and  in  and  by  whom  God  was  to  reveal  him- 
felf  to  men  in  the  latter  times,* 

As 

*  It  may  not  be  improper  in  this  place  to  repeat  the  paraphrafe  of 
one  of  the  targumifts,viz.  Jonathan  Ben  Uzziel  on  Gen.iv.  i.  where 
Eve  faidi  *  I  have  gotten  a  man  from  the  Lord,*  nilT  J^^<  li^''i< 
that  is,  *  a  man  the  Lord :'  By  which  words  our  mother  Eve, 
in  the  opinion  of  many  commentators,  expreffed  an  apprehen- 
fion  that  (he  had  brought  forth  him  who  was  the  Man-God,  the 
promifed  feed,  who  (hould  '  break  the  ferpent's  head.'  The 
words  of  the  targum  are,  '  And  Adam  knew  his  wife,  and  fhe 
conceived  and  bore  Cain,  and  faid,  I  have  obtained  a  man  the  an- 
gel of  the  Lord.*  See  Dr.  Owen  on  the  Hebrews,  Voh  L  p.  89. 
So  that  it  was  fuppofed  from  the  beginning  of  the  world  that  the 
Mefliah  was  to  be  a  man  and  an  angel,  who  might  be  called  Cod 
cr  the  Lardi  becaufe  of  God's  peculiar  indwelling  in  him. 


Sect.  IL  Appearances  adjujied.  %^ 

As  it  was  by  degrees  that  the  apoftles  preached  up 
the  peculiar  prefence  and  union  of  God  with  the 
man  Chrift  Jefus,  and  afterward  came  to  call  Chrifl 
God  more  freely,  and"  applied  divine  charafters  and 
defcriptions  to  him,  cited  out  of  the  Old  Teftament  j 
fo  it  was  by  degrees  that  the  Jews  and  Gentiles  re- 
ceived the  do<5trine  of  a  peculiar  union  of  Godhead  to 
Ihe  man  Jefus,  learned  the  idea  of  fuch  a  complex  per- 
fon  as  *  God  with  us,*  as  '  God  manifeft  in  the  flefh,* 
and  that  he  who  *  was  of  the  feed  of  David  after 
the  flefhj*  was  alfo  *  God  over  all  blefled  forever.* 


APPENDIX, 


v& 


A     P     P     E     N     D,,.I     X 

To  THE  FIRST  DISCOURSE. 


Some  Obfervations  on  the  Texts  of  the  Old  Tejiament 
applied  to  Chriji  by  the  Chrijlian  FatherSy .  and  by 
the  Jews  as  well  as  by  the  jacred  IVrilers. 

obferv.  I.  Wheresoever  the  writers  of 

the  New  Teftament  find  the  Almighty  God,  the  Cre- 
ator and  Lord  of  all,  the  only  true  God,  Jehovah,  the 
God  of  Ifrael,  reprefented  in  the  Old  Teftament  as 
appearing  to  men  in  a  vifible  manner,  or  wherefocver 
they  find  him  defcribed  as  bringing  falvation  to  the 
Jews,  but  efpecially  to  the  Gentiles,  they  feem  to 
make  no  fcruple  to  cite  any  of  thofe  texts  upon  a 
proper  occafion,  and  apply  them  to  our  Lord  Jefus 
Chrift.  Now  it  is  worth  our  inquiry  whether  thefc 
citations  will  not  prove  Chrift  to  be  God  incarnate, 
to  be  this  Jehovah,  this  God  appearing  amongft 
men,  and  as  the  Saviour  of  mankind  bringing  the 
Gentiles  into  his  church.  Let  us  take  notice  of  a 
few  inftances. 

Pfalm  Ixviii.  7,8.*  God  went  forth  before  his  peo- 
ple, and  marched  through  the  wildernefs,'  dwelling 
in  the  pillar  of  cloud  and  fire  :  '  the  earth  fhook, 
the  heavens  dropped,  at  the  prefence  of  God.  Sinai 
itfelf  was  moved  at  the  prefence  of  the  God  of  If- 
rael,' when  he  came  down  upon  mount  Sinai  in  fire, 
ver.  16,  17.  'God  hath  defired  to  dwell  in  Zion, 
yea  the  Lord,*  Jehovah,  '  will  dwell  in  it  forever : 
The  Lord  is  there  even  as  in  Sinai  in  the  holy  place,* 

i.  e. 


Djsc.  I.  APPENDIX.  89 

i.  e.  in  the  vifible  glory  upon  the  mercy-feat  even  as 
in  fire  upon  mount  Sinai,  ver.  18.  'Thou  haft  af- 
cended  on  high,  thou  hail  led  captivity  captive,  and 
received  gifts  for  men,  yea  for  the  rebellious  alio,' 
i.  e.  probably  for  the  heathen  world,  *  that  the 
Lord  God  might  dwell  amongft  them.'  This  is 
plainly  applied  to  Chrift,  Ephef.  iv.  *  When  he  af- 
ccnded  on  high,  he  led  captivity  captive,  and  gave 
gifts  unto  men.  Now  he  that  afcended,  what  is  it 
but  that  he  alfo  defcended  firft  into  the  lower  parts 
of  the  earth  ?'  which  moft  evidently  intends  our 
blefled  Saviour. 

Pfalm  xcvii.  i.  *  The  Lord,'  Jehovah,  *  reigneth, 
jet  the  earth  rejoice,  let  the  multitude  of  illes  be 
glad.'  This  evidently  declares  the  Lord  coming  to 
bring  falvation  to  the  Gentiles,  and  he  is  called,  ver. 
5.  'the  Lord  of  the  whole  earth;'  whereas,  Tfal. 
xcix.  1,2.*  The  Lord'  who  '  is  great  in  Zion,'  and 
who  '  fits  between  the  cherubims,'  is  confidered  as 
the  God  of  the  Jews :  then  it  is  faid,  '  the  Lord 
reigneth  ;  let  the  people'  or  Gentile  nations  '  trem- 
ble.' Well  then,  fince  the  xcviith.  Pfalm  fpeaks  of 
Jehovah  as  bringing  falvation  to  the  Gentiles,  it 
follows,  ver.  7.  '  Confounded  be  they  that  ferve 
graven  images  :  worfhip  him,  all  ye  gods.'  The 
idolatry  of  the  Gentiles  is  now  to  be  abolifhed,  and 
even  the  '  angels  of  God'  as.  well  as  the  '  princes  of 
the  earth,'  who  are  called  gods,  are  required  to 
wordiip  him.  This  is  diredlly  applied  to  Chrift,  and 
interpreted  of  him,  Heb.  i.  6.  '  Let  all  the  angels  of 
God  worfliip  him.'     Chrift  is  this  Jehovah. 

Pfalm  cii.  15.  '  The  heathen  (hall  fear  the  name 
of  the  Lord,  and  all  the  kings  of  the  earth  thy  glo- 
ry :'  and  probably  the  recalling  the  Jews  follows, 
ver.  16.  '  When  the  Lord  fhall  build  up  Zion,  he 
will  appear  in  his  glory  :  The  Lord  fhall  declare  his 
name  in  Zion,  and  his  praife  in  Jerufalero,  when  the 

people 


9©  APPENDIX.  Due.  I. 

people  are  gathered  together,  and  the  kingdoms' 
(that  is,  of  the  Gentiles)  *  to  ferve  the  Lord.* 
Ver.  25.  *Of  old  thou  haft  laid  the  foundations  of 
the  earth,  and  the  heavens  are  the  works  of  thy 
hands ;  they  fhall  perifn,  but  thou  art  the  fame,* 
&c.  This  is  exprefsly  attributed  to  Chrift,  Heb. 
i.  10,  II.  The  apoftle  introduces  it  to  prove  his 
dignity  above  angels,  and  fhews  that  he  is  the  Je- 
hovah, that  God  who  created  the  heavens  and  the 
earth,  &c. 

Ifai.  vi.  I.  'I  faw  the  Lord  fitting  upon  a  throne 
high  and  lifted  up,  and  his  train  filled  the  temple,* 
&c.  ver.  5.  *  Mine  eyes  have  feen  the  King,  the 
Lord  of  hofts,'  &c.  which  is  a  narrative  of  fome  vifi- 
ble  appearance  of  God.  And  the  holy  evangelift  in- 
terprets it  concerning  our  Saviour,  John  xii.  41. 
*  Thefe  things  faid  Efaias,  when  he  faw  his  glory 
and  fpake  of  him.'  Here  is  the  great  God  appear- 
ing in  a  vifible  manner,  and  Chrift  is  that  God  or 
Lord  of  hofts. 

Ifai.  XXXV.  I,  2.  &c.  *  The  wildernefs  and  the 
folitary  place  fhall  be  glad,  the  defart  fhall  rejoice 
and  blofTom  as  the  rofe.  The  glory  of  Lebanon 
fhall  be  given  to  it,  the  excellency  of  Carmel  and 
Sharon  :'  that  is,  the  Gentiles  fhall  have  the  glory 
of  being  a  church  of  God,  even  as  the  land  of  Ifrael 
had  been  :  *  They  fhall  fee  the  glory  of  the  Lord, 
and  the  excellency  of  our  God.  Your  God  will 
come  with  a  recompenfe  ;  he  will  come  and  fave 
you.  Then  the  eyes  of  the  blind  Ihall  be  opened, 
and  the  ears  of  the  deaf  fhall  be  unftopped,  the  lame 
man  fliall  leap  as  an  hart,  and  the  tongue  of  the 
dumb  fhall  fing :  for  in  the  wildernefs  fhall  waters 
break  out,  and  ftreams  in  the  defart,'  &c.  Com- 
pare this  with  Ifai.  xxxii.  i,  2,  3.  *  A  King  fhall 
reign  in  righteoufnefs,  a  man  fliall  be  as  an  hiding- 
place  from  the  wind  and  a  covert  from  the  tempeft, 

and 


Disc.  I.  APPENDIX.  91 

and  the  eyes  of  them  that  fee  fhall  not  be  dim,  and 
the  ears  of  them  that  hear  fhall  hearken,'  &c.  The 
fame  things  are  here  foretold  concerning  the  ap- 
pearance of  God,  and  the  appearance  of  a  man, 
which  plainly  refer  to  the  miracles  which  were 
wrought  when  Chrift  appeared,  who  is  God  and 
man,  or  God  dzvelling  in  man,  and  it  is  applied  to 
Chrift's  appearance  on  earth  by  himfelf,  Matth.  xi. 
4,  5.  where  he  fends  word  to  John,  that  thefe  evi- 
dences attended  him,  which  are  the  charafters  of  the 
Mefliah,  and  which  were  foretold.  Now  there  is  no 
place  in  the  Old  Teftament  more  plainly  foretels 
them  than  the  words  I  have  cited. 

Ifai.  xl.  3.  '  Prepare  ye  the  way  of  the  Lord,  make 
ftraight  in  the  defart  an  high  way  for  our  God  :  the 
glory  of  the  Lord  fhall  be  revealed,  and  all  flefh  fhall 
fee  it  together.'  Here  the  glory  of  God  is  foretold 
to  become  viiible,  and  that  *  all  flelh  fliall  fee  his 
glory.'  This  is  plainly  applied  to  Chrift,  where  John 
the  Baptift  is  faid  to  '  prepare  the  way  for  the  Lord,* 
Matth.  iii.  3.  Mark  i.  3.  Luke  i.  16,  17.  even  *  for 
the  Lord,'  Jehovah,  *  that  all  flefh  might  fee'  him^ 
i.  e.  Jews  and  Gentiles,  who  include  all  nations. 

I  might  proceed  to  the  9th,  loth  and  iith  verfes, 
*  Say  to  the  cities  of  Judah,  Behold  your  God  :  Be- 
hold the  Lord  God  will  come,  and  his  reward  Is  with 
him  and  his  work  before  him  :  he  fliall  feed  his 
flock  like  a  (lieplierd  :'  which  words  feem  to  refer  to 
Chrift  who  is  Immanuel,  God  with  us,  whom  *  the 
cities  of  Judah'  did  *  behold,'  even  '  God  m.anifeft 
in  the  flefli,'  and  becoming  vifible,  who  aflTumes  the 
charader  of  a  'Jliepherd,"  John  x.  and  of  whom  it  Is 
faid,  *  Behold,  he  comes,  and  his  reward  is  with  him.* 
Rev.  xxii.  12.  and  who  in  the  next  verfe  calls  him- 
felf '  the  Alpha  and  Omega,'  &c. 

Ifai.  xlv.  21,  22.  &c.  '  There  is  no  God  el^c  be- 
fides  me,  a  juft  God  and  a  Saviour  :  Lpok  unto  me 

and 


92  APPENDIX.  Disc.  r. 

and  be  ye  faved  all  the  ends  of  the  earth,  for  I  am 
God  and  there  is  none  elfe.'  Here  God  is  evidently 
reprefented  as  a  Saviour  of  the  Gentiles :  *  Unto  mc 
Ihall  every  knee  bow,  and  every  tongue  fliall  fvvear  : 
Surely,  fhall  one  fay,  in  the  Lord  have  I  righteouf- 
nefs  and  ftrength,  in  the  Lord  Ihall  all  the  feed  of  If- 
rael  be  juftified  and  (hall  glory.*  Now,  that  this  be- 
longs to  Chrifl  eminently  appears,  ifl:.  becaufe  this 
prophecy  of  Chrift,  as  '  Jehovah  our  righteoufnefs,' 
is  repeated  twice  by  the  prophet  Jeremiah,  chap, 
xxiii.  6.  and  xxxiii.  i6.  And  the  dodrine  of  Chrifl 
as  our  righteoufnefs  is  frequently  taught  us  in  the 
New  Teftament,  particularly  i  Cor.  i.  ^^^  3^« 
*  Chrift  is  made  unto  us  righteoufnefs,'  and  2d.  it 
may  be  remarked  that  the  fame  inference  is  made, 
viz.  '  that  according  as  it  is  written,  he  that  glorieth 
let  him  glory  in  theLord  :*  and, 3d.  this  fame  proph- 
ecy of  the  exaltation  of  Chrift,  *  that  every  knee 
fliould  bow  to  him,'  is  exprefsly  explairted,  Rom. 
xiv.  9,  10,  II.  and  Philip,  ii.  9.  and  is  applied  to 
Chrift  in  both  places. 

If  it  fliould  be  objeded  here,  that  Chrift  is  repre- 
fented in  both  thofe  epiftles  as  exalted  to  this  hon- 
our by  the  Father,  upon  the  account  of  his  fuffer- 
ings,  and  therefore  it  cannot  belong  to  Godhead, 
whofe  honour  is  originally  and  eternally  due  to  the 
very  nature  of  God ;  it  is  granted  that  the  human 
nature  is  thus  exafted  by  the  Father  as  a  reward  of 
his  death,  in  Philip,  ii.  and  in  Rom.  xiv.  it  is  alfo 
granted,  that  '  Chrift  died,  and  rofe  and  revived, 
that  he  might  be  Lord  of  the  dead  and  the  living.' 
But  fmce  the  fame  words  are  ufed  in  both  places, 
and  this  prophecy  of  Ifaiah  is  exprefsly  cited,  Rom. 
xiv.  1 1 .  and  applied  to  Chrift,  it  may  primarily  fig- 
nify  the  eternal  glory  of  the  Godhead,  as  united  to 
the  man  Jefus,  or  *  God  manifeft  in  the  flefh  ;'  and 
in  a  fecondary  fcnfc,  it  may  imply  all  the  fhare  oi 

thefe 


Disci.  APPENDIX.  95 

thefe  honours  that  the  human  nature  of  Chrift 
which  fuiTered  and  died,  is  capable  of  receiving,  by- 
its  perfonal  union  with  the  divine,  which  honour 
can  belong  to  no  other  creature,  becaufe  no  other 
being  is  thus  united  to  God,  or  one  with  God. 

Joel  ii.  28,  32.  *  I  will  pour  out  my  Spirit  upon 
all  flefh,*  &c.  *  and  whofoever  fhall  call  on  the  name 
of  the  Lord,'  Jehovah,  '  fliall  be  delivered  ;  for  in 
Mount  Zion  and  in  Jerufalem  fliall  be  deliverance, 
and  in  the  remnant  whom  the  Lord  fliall  call  :' 
which  probably  means  the  Gentile  church.  Now 
this  text  is  exprefsly  interpreted  concerning  Chrifl;, 
Rom.  X.  12,  13.  '  There  is  no  difference  between 
the  Jew  and  the  Greek ;  for  the  fame  Lord  over  all 
is  rich  unto  all  that  call  upon  him  :  for  whofoever 
fliall  call  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord  ihall  be  faved,* 
i.  e,  upon  the  name  of  Chrift  ;  for  this  is  the  very 
fcope  of  the  place,  and  this  the  next  verle  proves : 
*  How  fliall  they  call  on  him  in  whom  they  have  not 
believed  ?  and  how  fliall  they  believe  on  him  whom 
they  have  not  heard  ?  and  how  fliall  they  hear  with- 
out a  preacher  ?'  all  which  plainly  refers  to  our 
blelTed  Saviour. 

Obferv.  II.  The  primitive  fathers  of  the  Chrif- 
tian  church,  even  the  very  earliefh  writers,  fuch  as 
Juftin  Martyr,  Irenseus,  Clemens  Alexandrinus,  &c. 
copy  after  the  facred  writers  of  the  New  Tefl:ament : 
and  wherefoever  they  find  the  *  great  God,  the  Cre- 
ator of  all,  Jehovah,  the  Lord  God  of  Ifrael,'  rep- 
refented  as  becoming  a  Saviour  to  men,  and  efpec- 
ially  where  he  is  defcribed  as  becoming  vifible,  either 
in  the  ancient  difpenfations,  or  under  the  New  Tef- 
timent,  or  in  the  day  of  judgment ;  they  make  no 
icruple  at  all  to  apply  thefe  texts  to  our  Lord  Jefus 
Chrifl:.  Infl:ances  of  this  kind  are  very  numerous  in 
the  writings  even  of  the  three  firfl;  centuries.  Jufl:in 
Martyr  affords  us  feveral  citations  to  this  purpofe  ; 

and 


94  APPENDIX.  Disci. 

and  while  I  have  been  reading  him  as  well  as  Irenseus, 
I  have  wondered  how  it  could  be  denied,  that  either 
of  them  profefTed  Chrifl  to  be  the  true  God.  Juftin 
interprets  the  following  fcriptures  with  reference  to 
Chrift. 

Gen.  xviil.  i.  *  And  the  Lord  appeared  to  Abra- 
ham in  the  plains  of  Mamre.'  Gen.  xlx.  27.  '  And 
Abraham  ftood  before  the  Lord.*     Gen.  xxviii.  13. 

*  And  behold  the  Lord  ftood  above  it  and  faid,  I  am 
the  Lord  God  of  Abraham  thy  father,  and  the  God 
of  Ifaac'  Gen.  xxxi.  13.  *  I  am  the  God  of  Bethel, 
where  thou  anointedft  the  pillar.'     Exod.  iii.  4,  8. 

•  God  called  to  him  out  of  the  midft  of  the  bufli, — 
he  faid,  I  am  the  God  of  Abraham,  the  God  of  Ifaac, 
and  the  God  of  Jacob.*  Exod.  vi.  30.  *  I  appeared 
unto  Abraham,  unto  Ifaac,  and  unto  Jacob,  by  the 
name  of  GOD  ALMIGHTY,  but  by  my  name 
JEHOVAH  was  I  not  known  to  them.'  Pfal.  xxiv. 
8,  10.  '  The  Lord  ftrong  and  mighty,  the  Lord 
mighty  in  battle  :  The  Lord  of  Hofts,  he  is  the 
King  of  Glory.'  In  this  pfalm,  God  is  defcribed  as 
refiding  in  the  ark,  and  afcending  to  Zion,  to  dwell 
there  in  a  vifible  manner  in  the  bright  cloud.  The 
fame  may  be  faid  concerning  Pfal.  xlvii.  5.  *  God  is 
gone  up  with  a  fliout,  the  Lord  with  the  found  of  a 
trumpet.'  All  are  interpreted  concerning  Chrift  by 
Juflin  Martyr. 

Irenjeus  explains  many  of  the  fame  texts  in  the 
fame  manner,  and  feveral  others,  viz.  Gen.  iii.  9. 
'  The  Lord  came  to  Adam  in  the  evening,  and  called 
him,  and  faid.  Where  art  thou  ?  becaufe  in  the  lat- 
ter days  this  very  fame  word  of  God  comes  to  call 
man.'  Pfal.  1.  i.  '  The  mighty  God,  even  the  Lord 
hath  fpoken,'  whomlrenieus  calls,  '  the  God  of  gods. 
What  God  is  this  ?  Even  he  of  whom  he  faid,  God 
fhall  come  vifibly,  even  our  God,  and  will  not  be  ii- 
lent.     This  is  the  Son.'     Pfal.  Ixxvi.  i.  *  In  Judah 

God 


Disc.  I.  APPENDIX.  95 

God  is  known,  and  his  name  is  great  in  Ifrael.'  Ifai^ 
Ixv.  I.  *  I  was  made  manifeft  to  them  that  aiked  not 
after  me,'  that  is  to  the  Gentiles.  lilii.  xxxv.  4. 
*  Behold  your  God  will  come  with  vengeance,  even 
God  with  a  recompenfe,  he  will  come  and  fave  you.' 
All  thefe  places  Irenaeus  applies  to  Jefus  Chrift,  and 
a  great  many  others  may  be  found  in  feveral  of  the 
primitive  fathers,  fome  of  which  are  cited  by  the 
learned  Dr.  Waterland  in  his  firft  Defence  of  the 
Queries  concerning  the  Divinity  of  Chrift,  Query 
2d,  p.  28,  kc.  and  in  Mr.  Alexander's  Eflay  on 
Irenasus,  Chap.  6. 

Obje£i.  I.  One  pretence  of  the  Arians  againft  thefe 
writers'  belief  of  the  Divinity  of  Chrift,  as  expreffed 
in  thefe  texts,  is,  that  they  fuppofe  Chrift  in  thefe 
places  is  introduced  only  in  the  perfon  of  the  Father, 
and  as  his  meflenger  and  deputy. 

AhJw.  This  pretence  Dr.  Waterland  has  fufEci- 
cntly  obviated  in  the  following  pages,  33 — 46,  where- 
in he  ftiews  by  fome  exprefs  citations,  that  the  fa- 
thers fpake  of  Chrift  in  his  own  perfon,  though  in 
Tome  places  he  may  be  defcribed  as  the  Father's 
meflenger,  and  as  coming  in  his  name. 

Obje£f.  II.  It  may  be  obje<5ted  further,  that  how- 
ever this  may  be  the  moft  plain  and  moft  obvious 
meaning  of  the  primitive  fathers  in  fome  places  of 
their  writings,  viz.  That  Chrift  or  the  Logos  is  'Je- 
hovah or  the  true  God^  the  God  of  Ifrael,  yet  in  other 
places  they  plainly  defcribe  the  Logos  as  a  derived 
being,  and  as  having  many  characters  of  inferiority, 
both  as  to  his  original,  his  exiftence,  and  his  adlions  ; 
and  therefore  when  thofe  divine  titles  are  afcribed  to 
Chrift,  they  muft  be  interpreted  into  fome  inferior  qx 
diminutive  fenfe,  that  they  may  be  reconciled  to  the 
inferior  characters  given  to  that  Logos,  and  fo  may 
be  attributed  to  an  inferior  being. 

Atfw.  I.  Some  great  divines  have  attempted  to 
reconcile  thefe  inferior  characters  of  the  Lozos  to 

true 


96  A  P  P  E  N  D  I  :?t.  Disc.  I. 

true  and  eternal  Godhead,  by  fuppofing  that  both  a 
real  derivation  and  fome  natural  as  well  as  economi- 
cal inferiority  may  be  allowed  to  belong  to  the  Logos, 
even  in  his  divine  nature.  But  this  I  leave  to  thofe 
who  can  defend  the  dodrine  of  a  derived  God. 

Anfiv.  2.  Thefe  inferior  characters  of  the  Logos 
may  belong  to  the  human  foul  of  Chrifl,  fuppofing 
it  to  be  the  firft  of  all  creatures,  and  from  its  earlieft 
exiftence  to  be  intimately  united  to  eternal  Godhead : 
and  thus  the  fupreme  and  divine  character  may  be- 
long to  this  complex  perfon  Jefus  Chrift,  who  is 
both  God  and  a  creature  ;  though  I  cannot  fay  ma- 
ny of  the  fathers  did  profefs  this  notion. 

Anfiv.  3.  Whether  the  different  exprefiions  of  the 
fathers  in  different  parts  of  their  writings  can  be  rec- 
onciled or  not,  yet  this  is  plain,  that  in  fome  places 
they  do  in  the  moft  evident  and  obvious  manner 
interpret  and  afcribe  the  fupreme  fcriptural  titles  of 
Jehovah^  Lord  of  Hojis^  the  God  of  Ifrael,  &c.  to  the 
Logos,  or  to  the  Son  of  God ;  and  this  is  all  that  I 
infift  upon  here. 

Obferv.  III.  The  ancient  Jews  in  their  interpreta- 
tions of  fcripture  praftifed  the  fame  thing  as  the  apof- 
tles  and  the  Chriftian  fathers ;  and  where  God  is 
reprefented  in  a  vifible  manner  converfing  with  men, 
or  coming  to  fave  them,  they  make  no  manner  of 
fcruple  to  afcribe  thefe  exprefiions  of  fcripture  to  the 
Word  of  God,  the  Memra  or  Logos,  and  fometimes  to 
the  Meffiah.  This  may  be  feen  abundantly  in  feveral 
parts  of  Dr.  AUix's  Judgment  of  the  Jewilli  Church 
againft  the  Unitarians,  Chap.  13,  14,  15,  18,  19,  26. 
And  in  Dr.  Owen's  Exercitations  on  the  epiftle  to 
the  Hebrews,  Numb.  9,  10,  11. 

Now  amongft  the  ancient  Jews,  the  Memra  or 
Logos  (that  is,  the  IVord  of  God)  often  fignifies  God 
kimfelf,  or  fomething  in  and  of  God,  fome  divine  prin- 
ciple belonging  to  the  eflencc  of  God,  whereby  he 

tranfa(fls 


Pisc.  I.  APPENDIX.  97 

tranfads  his  affairs  with  creatures ;  and  it  alfo  figni- 
fies  fometimes  in  their  writings  a  very  glorious  arch- 
angel, or  a  fpirit  fuperior  to  all  angels,  in  whom  God 
put  his  name,  and  in  whom  the  true  God  refided  in 
a  peculiar  manner,  as  in  his  houfe  or  his  habitation, 
which  they  called  the  Shechinak.  This  I  have  Ihowa 
at  large  in  my  Diflertation  concerning  the  Logos ;  and 
I  have  there  made  it  appear  how  both  thofe  ideas 
may  be  united  in  one  Mefliah. 

But  however  that  matter  flands,  yet  thus  much  is 
evident,  that  thofe  fcriptures  where  God  is  repre- 
fented  in  a  vifible  manner,  or  where  he  is  reprefented 
eminently  as  a  Saviour,  or  bringing  falvation  to  his 
people  both  Jews  and  Gentiles,  have  been  interpreted 
concerning  Chriji  or  the  Pf^ord  by  the  ancient  Jewifh 
church,  by  the  apoftles,  and  by  the  primitive  Chrif- 
tian  writers  ;  whence  I  think  we  may  infer  thefe 
three  things. 

1 .  That  Jefus  Chrlft,  in  the  fenfe  of  all  thefe  writ- 
ers, has  true  and  eternal  Godhead  belonging  to  him, 
as  part  of  his  complex  perfon  :  for  the  ancient  Jews 
and  the  primitive  Chriftians,  and  efpecially  the  facred 
writers,  had  fuch  an  awful  fenfe  of  the  tranfcendent 
excellency  of  the  great  God,  and  of  his  jealoufy  for 
his  own  name  and  honour,  that  they  would  not  dare 
to  attribute  his  moft  fublime  titles,  charaders  and 
glories  to  a  mere  creature,  or  to  any  thing  which  had 
not  true  Godhead. 

2.  That  the  Godhead  of  Chrift  is  the  very  fame 
with  the  Godhead  of  the  Father ;  and  that  his  di- 
vine nature  is  the  fame  infinite  and  eternal  being,  the 
fame  Jehovah  or  God  of  Ifrael  to  whom  all  the  higheft 
titles  in  the  Old  Teflament  are  afcribed,  as  Chrift 
himfelf  fays,  John  x.  '  I  and  my  Father  are  one.' 
The  Father  and  Son  are  not  two  infinite  Spirits,  or 
two,  Gods,  but  one  and  the  fame  God. 

G  3.  That 


9S  APPENDIX.  Disc.  L 

3.  That  the  denying  of  thefe  glorious  and  fiiblime 
titles  of  Jekovak^  the  Lord  God,  the  God  of  Ifrael^  &c. 
to  belong  to  Chrift,  or  the  interpreting  of  them  into 
fuch  a  diminifhed  and  inferior  fenfe  as  may  belong 
to  a  mere  inferior  fpirit,  a  contingent  or  created  be- 
ing, without  any  fuch  perfonal  union  to  Godhead, 
feems  to  run  contrary  to  the  moft  plain  and  obvious 
fenfe  and  meaning  both  of  the  facred  writers,  of  the 
ancient  Jews,  and  the  primitive  Chriftians. 


DISCOURSE 


^>*|.>*>5.^^>»*-»»^»H»»>>'>5.^>>  ^  -^  •>->»>>»>>»>--»*->>*>>*>>»^)M.>.^ 


DISCOURSE       11. 

The  Glory  of  Christ  as  God-Man 
difplayedy 


By  an  INQTJIRY  into  the  extensive  Pow- 
ers  OF  HIS    HUMAN    NATURE  in  its 

present    GLORIFIED    StATE. 


G 


SECT.       I. 
INTROD  UCTION. 


OD  united  to  man,  and  dwelling  in  a  human 
body,  is  one  of  the  myflerious  glories  of  our  religion. 
It  was  fo  *  without  controverfy'  amongd  the  primi- 
tive Chriftians,  as  St.  Paul  acquaints  young  Timothy 
the  evangehft,  i  Tim.  iii.  ult.  '  Great  is  the  myftery 
of  godlinefs,  God  manifefh  in  the  flefh.'  The  union 
of  the  divine  and  human  natures  in  the  complete 
perfon  of  Chrift  the  Mediator,  is  one  of  thofe  fub- 
lime  wonders  which  could  never  have  been  found  out 
by  the  reafon  of  man,  and  which  were  revealed  flow- 
ly  to  the  church  in  fucceflive  ages.  There  were 
types  and  emblems  and  ghmpfes  of  it  in  ancient  days; 
but  the  fuller  difcovery  of  this  myftery  is  referved  to 
adorn  the  New  Teftament.  In  thefe  latter  days  we 
have  a  moft  evident  and  certain  revelation  made  to 
us,  that  Chrift  Jefus  the  Mediator,  who  was  *  of  the 
feed  of  David  according  to  the  flefh,'  is  *  God  over 
all,  bleffed  forever.'    Rom.  ix.  5. 

G  2  Yet 


100  The  extenfive  Powers  Disc.  II. 

Yet  the  glories  that  fpring  from  this  facred  union 
are  too  bright  to  be  all  unveiled  before  us  in  the 
prefent  ftate  of  infirmity.  They  are  too  vaft  and  ex- 
tenfive to  be  received  by  the  narrownefs  of  our  ap- 
prehenfions,  while  our  fouls  are  confined  in  flefli  and 
blood.  The  rays  of  Godhead  once  broke"  through 
the  human  nature  of  Chrift  on  the  mount  of  tranf- 
figuration,  but  the  difciples  were  not  able  to  bear 
them.  It  is  by  degrees  we  muft  gain  acquaint- 
ance with  this  divine  perfon  ;  and  as  his  divinity  is 
all  light  and  fplendor,  fo  his  human  nature,  which 
is  a  creature,  has  doubtlefs  in  itfelf  many  peculiar 
excellencies  and  prerogatives,  that  it  might  be  fit  to 
be  fo  nearly  allied  to  Godhead  with  decency  and 
honour.  And  doubtlefs  alfo  it  has  acquired  moft 
afhonifhing  advancement,  both  in  power,  capacity 
and  glory,  by  this  facred  and  admirable  alliance,  as 
well  as  by  its  prefent  exaltation  in  heaven. 

The  mofl  neceffary  and  important  do£lrines  of 
the  gofpel  concerning  the  perfon  of  Chrift  are  plain- 
ly written  in  the  word  of  God,  that  the  weakeft 
Chriftians  may  read  and  learn  them,  and  be  faved. 
Thefe  have  been  known  and  acknowledged  by  all 
true  Chriftians  in  all  ages  of  the  church.  But  there 
are  others  alfo  of  fome  importance,  which  are  con-^ 
tained  in  fcripture,  and  yet  may  not  have  been  uni- 
verfally  received  among  Chriftians.  Some  of  thefe 
perhaps  have  not  been  obferved  in  our  reading  the 
Bible  hitherto,  becaufe  our  education  has  given  us 
no  hint  of  them  :  thefe  may  become  the  fubjedls  of 
our  delightful  fearch  and  profitable  inquiry,  when 
we  meet  with  the  firft  notices  of  them  in  the  world. 
It  is  our  duty  to  '  grow  in  grace  and  in  the  knowl- 
edge of  our  Lord  Jefus  Chrift,'  2  Peter  iii.  ult.  and 
to  leek  what  further  acquaintance  with  him  we  may 
gain  by  an  honeft  and  impartial  fearch  into  the  word 
of  God.  This  will  carry  feveral  advantages  with 
it,  viz.  I.    This 


Sect.  I.  f>f  Chrifi  glorified.  loi 

1.  This  will  be  for  the  exaltation  of  Chrift  him- 
felf ;  for  we  fliall  pay  him  more  juft  honour  in  eve- 
ry refpeft,  when  we  know  more  of  him,  and  are  bet- 
ter acquainted  with  the  various  excellencies  of  his 
facred  perfon. 

2.  This  will  tend  to  the  illuftration  of  the  gofpel, 
and  the  confirmation  of  our  faith  ;  for  the  whole 
fcheme  of  Chriftianity,  and  particularly  all  that  doc- 
trine that  relates  to  the  perfon  of  Chrift,  is  fo  harmo- 
nioully  connefted,  that  when  we  gain  further  light 
into  any  one  part  of  it,  it  (beds  fome  degrees  of  di- 
vine brightnefs  over  all  the  reft. 

3.  This  will  better  furnifli  us  with  anfwers  to  the 
adverfaries  of  our  religion  ;  for  the  more  we  know, 
the  better  we  can  defend  our  knowledge,  fupport 
our  profeffion,  and  vindicate  the  name  and  honour 
of  our  blefled  Saviour. 

4.  This  will  render  the  word  of  God  itfelf  more 
glorious,  both  in  our  own  efteem,  and  in  the  eyes 
of  the  world,  when  we  fee  the  darker  and  more  per- 
plexed paflages  of  it  unfolded,  when  we  find  a  way 
to  folve  thofe  difficulties  which  have  often  puzzled 
us  and  our  forefathers,  and  when  we  remove  thofe  in- 
cumbrances which  have  given  our  adverfaries  a  han- 
dle to  aflault  our  faith,  and  to  depreciate  the  word  of 
God  as  a  volume  of  obfcure  and  inconfiftent  things. 

Our  Lord  Jefus  Chrift,  confidered  in  his  complete 
perfon,  has  the  divine  nature  joined  to  the  human  ; 
this  has  been  proved  with  abundant  evidence  in  an- 
cient and  modern  writings.  Now  as  the  divine  na- 
ture is  all  over  glorious,  fo  there  are  fome  glories 
which  are  peculiar  and  proper  to  his  human  nature  : 
fome  of  thefe  are  native  honours  and  excellencies  that 
belong  to  the  human  foul  and  body  of  Chrift,  and 
there  are  other  furpriling  powers  and  dignities  which 
are  derived  to  the  Man  Jefus,  partly  by  his  exalta- 
tion to  the  throne  in  heaven,  and  partly  by  virtue 
of  his  union  with  the  Godhead,  as  was  hinted  before. 

In 


loi  The  extenjtve  Powers  Disc.  II. 

In. many  Inftances,  it  mud  be  confefled,  it  is  dif- 
ficult, if  not  impoflible,  for  us  to  fay  exadiy  how 
far  the  human  nature  is  the  immediate  fubjedt  of 
fome  fubhme  honours  and  actions,  and  how  far  they 
mud  be  afcribed  to  the  indwelling  Deity  :  to  find 
the  precife  limits  of  the  agencies  or  honours  of  the 
two  natures  in  Chrift  in  every  refpe<5t,  is  a  myftery 
too  deep  for  our  prcfent  penetration.  Yet  fince 
the  fcripture  has  abundantly  manifefted  the  exalta- 
tion of  the  Man  Jefus  to  the  right  hand  of  God,  to 
enjoy  unconceivable  degrees  of  power,  authority  and 
fplendor,  it  is  proper  for  us  to  do  fo  much  honour 
to  the  Man  whom  God  the  Father  delights  to  hon- 
our, as  to  read  and  underfland,  as  far  as  we  can,  the 
peculiar  glories  of  his  fpecial  advancement. 

It  has  been  a  common  pradlice  with  us,  becaufe 
we  know  that  Jefus  Chrift  is  true  God,  and  that  his 
human  nature  is  united  to  the  divine  ;  therefore, 
whenfoever  we  read  any  glorious  and  fublime  attri- 
butions to  our  blelfed  Redeemer  in  fcripture,  we 
content  ourfelves  immediately  to  refer  them  all  to 
his  divine  nature,  as  being  all-fufficient  to  fupport 
them  ;  not  confidering  that  we  may  perhaps  by  this 
means  fwallow  up  and  bury  fome  of  the  moft  illuf- 
trious  excellencies  and  honours  of  the  Man  Chrift 
Jefus,  nor  fuffer  his  human  nature  to  receive  that 
due  (hare  of  glory  and  dignity  to  which  the  Father 
has  advanced  it.  We  are  fometimes  afraid  to  ex- 
alt the  Man  whom  the  Father  has  exalted,  left  we 
fhould  be  thought  to  derogate  from  his  Godhead. 
We  are  afraid  to  read  the  human  name  of  Jefus  in 
fome  fcriptures  which  highly  exalt  the  Son  of  God, 
left  we  Ihould  be  thought  to  weaken  the  force  of 
any  of  thofe  texts  which  are  ufually  amafTed  togeth- 
er to  prove  the  Deity  of  Chrift,  or  left  we  ftiould 
withhold  any  of  them  from  this  fervice. 

I  grant  that  the  facred  doclrine  of  the  Divinity, 
•united  to  the  human  nature  in  Chrift,  ought  to  be 

lupported 


Sect.  II.  t>f  Chrijl  glorified,  103 

fupported  by  all  juft  expofitions  of  fcripture.  It  is 
an  article  that  we  cannot  part  with  out  of  our  re- 
ligion, without  fhaking  the  foundation.  But  Jefus 
Chrift,  our  Lord  and  our  God,  never  requires  us  to 
ftrain  one  line  of  his  word,  or  turn  it  afide  from  the 
natural  fenfe,  in  order  to  fupport  his  deity.  There 
are  many  paflages,  both  of  the  Old  and  New  Tefta- 
ment,  that  declare  and  confirm  this  great  article ; 
and  many  of  thofe  fcriptures  alfo  wherein  the  hu- 
man nature  of  Chrift  is  jointly  honoured,  do  yet 
carry  in  them  a  plain  proof  of  the  united  Godhead. 
But  lince  ther€  are  fome  fcriptures,  which  in  their 
moft  natural  and  obvious  fenfe  fpeak  chiefly  of  the 
honours  of  his  Godhead,  and  others  chiefly  defcribe 
the  exaltation  of  his  humanity,  let  us  do  fo  much' 
juftice  to  our  blefled  Saviour,  as  to  read  the  diftindt 
honours  of  both  his  natures  in  thofe  very  places  of- 
Icripture  where  he  has  written  them,  that  fo  we  may. 
pay  him  the  full  glory  due  to  his  facred  and  complex 
perfon  as  God -Man. 

Nor  can  it  any  way  leflen  the  glory  of  our  bleflTed. 
Mediator,  nor  derogate  from  the  honour  of  his  di- 
vine nature,  to  fhew  what  capacious  powers  and  fub- 
hme  dignities  are  derived  to  the  Man  Jefus,  either! 
by  his  prefent  exalted  ftate,  or  by  the  influence  of 
that  Godhead  which  has  affumed  him  into  fo  near 
an  union,  lince  we  ftill  fecure  to  the  bleflfed  God- 
head all  its  own  eminence  and  infinite  fuperiority  to 
the  Man.  ...  or^o-* 


SECT.      H. 

Scriptural  Proofs  of  the  Exaltation  of  the  human  Nai 
ture  of  CHRIST,  and  the  exterfwe  Capacities  and 
Powers  of  his  Soul  in  Ms  glorified  State. 

X  HAT  the  great  and  blefled- God  conde- 
fcended  to  afl^ume  any  human  foul  and  bddy  into  a 

perfonai 


I04  The  extenjive  Powers  Disc.  II. 

perfonal  union  with  hlmfelf,  was  a  matter  of  free 
and  fovercign  favour  :  and  that  he  fhould  chufe  this 
one  human  fpirit,  and  this  body  which  was  born 
of  the  virgin  Mary,  to  be  the  fubjeds  of  this  priv- 
ilege, was  the  effe(ft  of  the  fame  goodnefs  and  the 
fame  fovereignty  ;  '  God  fpake  in  vifion  to  his  Holy 
One,  and  faid,  I  have  exalted  one  chofen  out  of  the 
people,'  Pfal.  Ixxxix.  19.  It  is  a  favour  at  firft  al- 
together unmerited,  and  which  the  Man  Jefus  could 
not  claim.  *  It  pleafed  the  Father  that  in  him  all 
the  fulnefs  of  the  Godhead  fhould  dwell  bodily,* 
Col.  i.  19.  and  ii.  9.  It  was  a  matter  of  divine  good 
pleafure,  that  God  fliould  '  dwell  in'  that  particular 
fpirit,  and  be  manifcll  in  that  particular  flefh  and 
blood  which  was  born  at  Bethlehem. 

Thence  it  will  follow,  that  the  influences  and 
privileges  derived  from  this  union  are  limited  by  the 
will  and  pleafure  of  God  :  and  the  honours  and 
powers  which  accrue  to  the  human  nature  on  this 
account  are  fufpended  or  beftowed,  increafed  and 
diminifhed,  according  to  the  wife  counfels  and  de- 
terminations of  the  divine  will. 

It  feems  to  be  one  of  the  facred  laws  of  this  inef- 
fable union,  that  the  Man  Jefus  fhould  have  ideas 
and  influences,  knowledge  and  power,  communicat- 
ed to  him  by  the  indwelling  Godhead,  in  fuch  meaf- 
ures  and  at  fuch  fucceflive  feafons  as  he  ftood  in 
need  of  them,  for  his  feveral  offices  and  operations  in 
the  divine  economy.  The  human  foul  of  Chrift 
cannot  receive  and  retain  all  poflible  ideas  conftantly 
and  fimultaneoufly  :  This  would  be  to  fuppofe  the 
Man  really  endowed  with  the  properties  of  Godhead. 
But  as  faft  as  the  indwelling  Godhead  fees  it  proper 
to  furnifh  him  with  new  and  larger  ideas  and  pow- 
ers, fo  faft  is  he  made  capable  of  receiving  and  ex- 
erting them,  both  in  his  ftate  of  humiliation  and 
exaltation. 

This 


Sect.  II.  of  Chriji  glorified.  105 

This  will  appear,  if  we  confider  that  Chrift  was 
God-Man  in  the  days  of  his  humiliation  :  He  was 

*  Immanuel,'  or  '  God  with  us  :'  He  was  *  God 
manifeft  in  the  flefh  :'  He  was  that  '  Word'  who 

*  was  God,  made  flefh  :'  And  our  divines  very  juftly 
affirm,  it  was  the  fame  Godhead  which  is  in  the 
Father  that  dwelt  in  Chrift :  *  I  am  in  the  Father/ 
fays  our  Lord,  '  and  the  Father  in  me,'  John  xiv. 
10.  *  I  and  the  Father  are  one,'  John  x.  30.  Yet 
while  he  lived  upon  earth,  this  divine  union  did  not 
exert  its  influences  to  the  utmoft,  neither  as  to 
knowledge,  or  power,  or  authority  ;  for  the  child 

*  Jefus  grew  in  wifdom'  as  well  as  *  ftature,'  Luke 
ii.  52.  and  the  'day  of  judgment,'  which  was  known 
to  the  Father,  was  unknown  to  the  Son  at  that  time, 
Mark  xiii.  32.  '  Of  that  day  and  that  hour  know- 
eth  no  man,  neither  the  Son,  but  the  Father.*  His 
knowledge  was  imperfeft  ;  and  his  authority  on 
earth,  before  his  death,  appeared  rather  the  authority 
of  a  prophet  than  a  king  :  In  his  younger  years  he 
was  fubjeft  to  the  commands  of  his  parents,  Luke 
ii.  51.  And  when  he  appeared  in  the  world,  it  was 
as  a  man,  fent  from  God,  to  reveal  his  will  and  to 
obey  or  fulfil  it.  He  declared  he  was  no  king  on 
earth,  i.  e.  a  temporal  king,  for  *  his  kingdom  was 
not  of  this  world.'  He  paid  tribute  to  C^far  ;  he- 
would  not  be  the  divider  of  an  inheritance  among 
contending  brethren  ;  '  he  had  not  where  to  lay  his 
head.'  The  Man  Jefus  here  on  earth  lived  among 
men,  and  had  not  complete  knowledge,  nor  could 
he  have  complete  power. 

It  pleafed  the  Father,  and  it  was  agreed  in  the 
covenant  of  redemption,  that  the  Man  Jclus  fliould 
arrive  at  his  exaltation  by  degrees  :  It  was  agreed 
that  he  fliould  practife  the  moft  profound  inftaaces 
of  humility  and  fubmiflion  to  God,  as  well  as  the 
moft  aftonifhing  ad  of  pity  and  charity  toward  men, 

in 


io6  The  extenjtve  Pozvers  Disc.  II. 

in  becoming  a  facrifice  for  their  lins  and  dying  upon 
the  crof??,  before  he  was  to  receive  his  promifed  hon- 
ours. The  Father  thought  it  proper  to  beflow  the 
mod  fubUme  advancement  upon  him  as  a  reward  of 
his  fufferings ;  and  to  fufpend  his  rich  reward  till  his 
work  was  done,  that  he  might  at  once  difplay  his 
own  grace,  his  equity  and  his  truth,  in  the  glorifica- 
tion of  the  human  nature  of  his  Son  Jefus,  and  that 
he  might  be  a  more  proper  pattern  for  all  his  follow- 
ers. This  dodrine  runs  through  many  pages  in  the 
Old  Teftament  and  in  the  New. 

But  when  Chrift  had  finifhed  his  work,  he  then 
jirayed  for  the  promifed  glory.  John  xvii.  5.  *  Fa- 
ther, glorify  thy  Son  ;  1  have  finilhed  the  work  which 
thou  gavell  me  to  do.'  And  when  he  afcended  to 
heaven,  and  was  feated  at  the  right  hand  of  God, 
then  he  that  was  '  of  the  feed  of  David'  more  emi- 
nently appeared  to  be  '  God  over  all,  blelFed  forever,* 
as  Rom.  ix.  4,  5.  Then  the  influences  of  this  fa- 
cred  union  were  exerted  in  an  high  degree,  and  hon- 
ours and  dignities  were  conferred  upon  him  in  abun- 
dance, with  intellectual  and  operative  powers  fuited 
to  this  advancement.  *  God  manifcfb  in  the  flefli* 
\yas  received  up  to  heaven  in  glory,  i  Tim.  iii.  16. 
And  there  the  human  nature  lives  and  a6ls,^ihines 
and  reigns,  in  a  manner  becoming  its  high  privilege 
of  union  to  Godhead. 

In  order  to  purfue  my  prefent  defign,  I  fliall  do 
tiiefe  two  things — Firfl,  I  fhall  endeavour  to  prove 
from  fcripture,  that  it  is  the  human  nature  of 
Chrift  that  was  peculiarly  exalted  after  his  fufferings  ; 
and  then  fet  before  you  a  more  particular  detail  of 
the  inftances  wherein  this  exaltation  confifts. 

Firft,  The  reafons  to  prove  that  it  is  the  Man 
Chrift  who  is  exalted  by  God  the  Father,  are  fuch 
as  thelc  : 

I.   St.  Peter  gives  us  an  account  in  his  firft  fer- 

raon. 


Sect.  II.  of  Chrijl  glorified.  107 

mon,  A6ts  li.  33.  of  Chrlft  *  exalted  by  the-  right 
hand  of  God.'  If  we  inquire  more  particularly  of 
the  perfon  who  is  thus  exalted,  the  context  aiiurcs 
us,  it  is  '  Jefus  of  Nazareth,  a  man  approved  of  G  k1.* 
ver.  22.  It  is  that  very  Man  of  *  the  feed  of  David 
according  to  the  flefii'  who  was  appointed  '  to  fit  on 
his  throne/  v'er.  30.  It  was  the  Man  *  that  was  tak- 
en and  crucified  and  flain,'  ver.  23.  The  Man 
*  whom  God  raifed  from  the  dead,'  ver.  32.  who 
was  thus '  exalted  by  the  right  hand  of  God,'  ver.  33. 

2.  It  is  a  r^^/ exaltation  of  Chrilt  by  the  v/ill  or 
good  pleafure  of  God,  which  is  expreiled  in  many 
Icriptures,  and  not  merely  a  manifeflative  exaltation. 
It  is  an  advancement  to  new  degrees  of  knowledge, 
to  a  real  increafe  of  capacity,  to  new  powers  and  ad- 
vantages, which  he  had  not  on  earth,  as  well  as  to 
new  dignities.  But  the  divine  nature  is  eternal  and 
felf-fufiicient,  full  in  itfelf  of  all  real  and  pofiible 
powers  and  dignities,  nor  can  it  receive  any  new  pow- 
ers, nor  can  it  have  any  real  advancement.  God- 
head cannot  be  any  otherwife  exalted,  than  by 
having  its  own  original  and  eternal  powers,  or  the 
exercife  of  them,  manlfefted  or  difcovered  to  his 
creatures  ;  it  mufl  be  therefore  a  creature,  even  the 
Man  Jefus,  who  receives  this  real  advancement. 

3.  It  is  the  human  nature  of  Chrifl  which  is 
properly  exalted,  becaufe  it  is  the  Man  who  is  ex- 
prefsly  called  '  the  Mediator'  in  fcripture,  whereas  he 
IS  never  exprefsiy  called  Mediator  as  God.  i  Tim. 
ii.  5.  *  There  is  one  God,  and  one  Mediator  between 
God  and  man,  the  Man  Chrifl  Jefus.'  Now  it  was 
for  the  mofl  part  mediatorial  honours ; and  powers 
which  he  received  at  his  exaltation  ;  and  partly  with 
this  delign,  that  he  qiight  better  fulfil  the  remain- 
ing part  of  his  wurk  as  Mediator,  that  the  Man  Je- 
fus might  reign  over  the  nations  and  judge  this 
world.     Adts  xi.  36,  38.   Adsxvii.  31. 

4.  His 


ro8  The  extenfive  Powers  Disc.  IL 

4.  His  exaltation  is  reprefented  as  the  reward  of 
his  rufferings  and  labours  in  many  places  of  fcrip- 
ture.  Ifai.  liii.  10,  12.  *  Therefore  fhall  he  divide 
the  rpoil  with  the  great,  becaufe  he  poured  out  his 
foul  unto  death.'  Phil.  ii.  8.  *  He  humbled  him- 
felf,  and  became  obedient  to  death,  wherefore  God 
hath  alfo  highly  exalted  him.'  Rev.  v.  9.  *  Thou 
art  worthy  to  take  the  book,'  &c.  *  for  thou  waft 
ilain,  and  haft  redeemed  us.'  Now  it  is  not  fo  prop- 
er to  fay,  the  divine  nature  in  Chrift,  or  his  indwell- 
ing Godhead,  is  rewarded  ;  becaufe  his  human  na- 
ture laboured  and  fufFered  and  died.  The  Godhead 
in  Chrift  is  properly  uncapable  of  receiving  any  re- 
wards from  God  the  Father,  for  it  is  one  and  the 
fame  Godhead  or  divine  nature  in  both  perfons ; 
nor  indeed  can  a  God  be  properly  rewarded  at  all. 

This  argument  will  be  further  enforced,  if  we 
confider,  that  his  exaltation  after  his  labours  and 
fufferings,  is  reprefented  and  propofed  to  us  as  a 
pledge  and  pattern  of  our  exaltation  after  we  have 
laboured  and  fuffered,  on  purpofe  to  encourage  us 
in  our  labours  and  fufFerings.  Now  this  muft  be 
the  exaltation  of  his  human  nature  or  the  Man  Je- 
fus,  who  did  both  labour  and  fuffer  as  well  as  we. 

I  will  fay  no  more  in  this  place,  becaufe  this  doc- 
trine will  appear  more  evident  all  the  way  as  we  pro- 
ceed :  Yet  if  we  had  nothing  further  to  fay  for  it, 
I  think  upon  the  whole  we  might  venture  to  con- 
clude, that  as  the  humiliation  of  Chrift  the  Mediator 
has  a  more  peculiar  refped  to  his  human  nature,  fo 
it  is  the  human  nature  is  more  efpecially  exalted  by 
the  Father,  but  ftill  confidered  in  union  with  the  di- 
vine, and  under  the  character  of  Mediator. 

My  fecond  general  head  of  difcourfe  is  to  give 
fome  fpecial  inftances  wherein  the  exaltation  of 
Chrift  in  his  human  nature  confifts ;  and  this  ap- 
pears eminently  in  the  following  particulars. 

I.  The 


Sect.  II.  af  Chrijl  glorified.  109 

I.  The  Man  Chrift  Jefus  united  to  the  divine 
nature  is  admitted  to  the  knowledge  of  many  of  the 
decrees  and  the  fecret  counfels  of  God.  He  that 
knew  not  the  day  of  judgment  here  on  earth,  has 
now  the  fcene  of  all  futurities  fpread  open  before 
him  ;  and  he  communicated  them  in  vifions  and 
figures  to  John  the  apoflle,  that  he  might  publifh 
them  to  the  churches.  The  book  of  the  Revelation 
begins  with  this  aflertion,  that  '  God  gave  to  Jefus 
Chrift  the  knowledge  of  things  that  muft  fhortly 
come  to  pafs :'  And  in  Rev.  v.  5.  *  The  Lion  of 
the  tribe  of  Judah  hath  prevailed  to  open  the  book, 
and  to  loofe  the  {&\en  feals  thereof.'  Ver.  6.  *  The 
Lamb,  as  it  had  been  llain,  having  feven  horns  and 
feven  eyes,  which  are  the  feven  fpirits  of  God,  came 
and  took  the  book  out  of  the  right  hand  of  him  that 
fat  on  the  throne,  and  opened  the  feals  thereof.* 
Here  is  the  human  nature  of  Chrift,  the  Lamb,  rep- 
refented  with  unknown  powers,  viz.  *  feven  horns 
and  feven  eyes,  which  are  the  feven  fpirits  of  God/ 
The  feven  horns  might  fignify  perfedl  might,  and  the 
feven  eyes  perfeft  knowledge  ;  and  by  virtue  of  his 
union  to  the  divine  nature,  this  may  include  his 
power  to  fend  the  Spirit  of  God,  or  to  give  forth 
his  gifts  or  graces.  He  opens  the  book  of  divine 
counfels,  by  which  the  church  and  the  nations  are 
to  be  governed  to  the  end  of  the  world. 

Now  the  divine  nature  of  Chrift  knew  all  that  was 
written  in  this  book  while  it  was  fealed  ;  but  after 
the  fufferings  of  Chrift  on  earth,  his  human  nature 
was  admitted  to  this  privilege  :  and  having  power 
given  him  to  rule  the  world,  it  was  necelTary  he 
Ihould  know  thofe  counfels  and  decrees  of  the  Fa- 
ther by  which  the  world  is  to  be  ruled. 

Obferve  alfo  that  he  is  made  and  declared  *  wor^ 
thy  to  take  this  book  and  to  open  the  feals  of  it,  be- 
caufe  he  was  flain,  and  has  redeemed  his  faints  to 

God 


no  The  exfenjive  Poweri  Disc.  iL 

God  bj'  his  blood,'  ver.  9.  Surely  it  was  not  the 
Godhead,  but  the  Man  Jefus  who  was  flain  ;  and 
it  is  the  Man  (not  the  Godhead)  who  is  become  wor- 
thy on  this  account  to  read  this  book  of  divine  coun- 
lels.  This  is  that '  Revelation  which  God  gave  un- 
to Jefus  Chrift,  to  fhew  unto  his  fervants  things 
which  muft  fhortly  come  to  pafs,  and  he  fent  and 
fignified  it  by  his  angel  unto  his  fervant  John/ 
Rev.  i.   I. 

II.  The  human  nature  of  Chrift,  as  united  to 
God,  is  exalted  to  the  government  of  heaven  and 
earth.  Matt,  xxviii.  18.  Jefus,  juft  before  his  afcen- 
fion,  fpake  unto  them,  faying,  *  All  power  is  given 
unto  me  in  heaven  and  in  earth.'  And  Ephef.  i. 
20.  St.  Paul  tells  us  it  was  God's  *  mighty  power, 
which  he  wrous;ht  in  Chrift  when  he  raifed  him  ^rom 
the  dead  and  fet  him  at  his  own  right  hand  in  heav- 
enly places,  far  above  all  principality  and  power, 
might  and  dominion,  and  every  name  that  is  named, 
not  only  in  this  world,  but  alfo  in  the  world  to 
come,  and  hath  put  all  things  under  his  feet.' 

I  know  this  fort  of  expreffion  in  fcripture  is  wont 
to  be  applied  exprefsly  to  the  charader  of  Chrift  as 
Mediator,  for  it  is  ufually  faid,  Though  his  divine 
nature,  abfolutely  confidered,  had  all  this  dominion 
before,  yet  as  Mediator  it  was  now  given  to  him. 

But  let  us  confider  thefe  three  things  : 

I.  Since  the  human  nature  of  Chrift  at  leaft  muft 
be  allowed  in  fome  fenfe  to  complete  the  perfon  of 
the  Mediator,  and  it  is  his  human  nature  that  is 
thus  *  raifed  from  the  dead  by  the  mighty  power  of 
God,  and  fet  at  the  right  hand  of  God  in  heavenly 
places,'  it  is  but  reafonable  to  conceive  that  the  hu- 
man nature  receives  this  exaltation,  this  power  and 
dominion  over  all  things,  thou2:h  I  orant  it  muft  be 
confidered  in  union  with  the  divine  :  but  if  we  do 
not  fuppofe  it  to  be  the  human  nature  which  is 

thus 


Sect.  IT.  of  Chriji  glorified.  til 

dignified  and  endued  with  authority,  then  we  {hail 
be  forced  to  interpret  this  text  thus,  viz.  that  God 
raifed  his  human  nature  from  the  dead,  and  fet  his 
human  nature  at  his  own  right  hand,  i.  e.  on  high 
above  the  clouds  :  but  has  put  all  things  under  the 
feet  of  his  divine  nature,  conlidered  as  Mediator ; 
which  feems  to  be  but  a  (hifting  and  evafive  expofi- 
tion,  if  the  words  will  admit  a  fenfe  that  is  plainer 
and  eafier :  and  no  man  who  reads  it  with  an  un- 
bialTed  mind  would  put  this  ftrained  interpretation 
upon  it. 

2.  Of  what  ufe  is  the  frequent  declaration  of  this 
power  and  government  conferred  upon  Chrift  after 
his  afcenfion,  if  it  be  not  conferred  on  his  human  na- 
ture, and  if  his  human  nature  does  not  exercife  it  ? 
The  divine  nature  of  Chrift  had  this  power,  and  ex- 
crcifed  this  government  before  :  as  God,  he  always 
did,  and  always  will  govern  the  world,  though  there 
had  not  been  a  word  fpoken  in  fcripture  of  any  ex- 
altation of  Chrift  to  this  government  :  And  iince 
Godhead  is  united  to  the  Man  Jefus,  Godhead  in 
this  united  ftate  would  continue  to  govern  the 
world  as  before,  and  that  even  during  ail  the  hu- 
miliation of  Chrift  :  What  alteration  then  does  arife 
from  this  declared  exaltation  of  Chrift,  after  his  la- 
bours and  fufferings  ? 

And  befides,  3.  What  new  advantage,  what  ben- 
efit, what  gift  or  reward  can  it  be  to  the  human  na- 
ture of  Chrift,  that  his  divine  nature  ftiould  be  made 
governor  of  all  things  ?  Or  that  the  divine  nature 
Ihould  exert  that  authority,  dominion  and  power 
which  it  had  inherent  in  itfelf,  originally,  necelTarily, 
and  without  any  gift  ?  This  government  of  Chrift 
is  frequently  reprefented  as  a  gift  and  a  reward,  and 
therefore  muft  belong  eminently  to  the  inferior  na- 
ture, which  alone  is  capable  of  rewards  and  gifts  from 
God. 

The 


tia  The  extenftve  Powers  Disc.  II. 

The  fame  argument  may  be  drawn  from  Rom. 
xiv.  9.  *  To  this  end  Chrift  both  died  and  rofe  and 
revived/  or  hved  again,  '  that  he  might  be  Lord 
both  of  the  dead  and  the  Hving.'  His  death  and 
refurredion  belong  to  his  human  nature  ;  he  died 
as  man,  he  rofe  as  man,  that  he  might  as  man  rule 
over  the  dead  and  the  living  ;  for  it  is  hardly  to  be 
fuppofed  that  St.  Paul  could  mean,  "  He  died  and 
rofe  as  man,  that  his  Godhead  might  obtain  this 
dominion,  when  his  Godhead  had  this  dominion 
eternal  and  unalienable  in  itfelf,  and  needed  no  fuch 
new  title  to  dominion  :"  For  his  coming  into  flefh 
could  never  diveft  him  of  it,  nor  could  his  human 
fufferings  repurchafe  fuch  a  divine  claim  and  power 
if  he  had  divefted  himfelf 

Yet  here  I  would  give  notice  once  for  all,  that 
i  do  not  exclude  this  fort  of  fcriptures  from  an  eco- 
nomical fenfe  :  I  mean  thus,  they  may  have  a  re- 
fpe6t  to  Chrift  in  his  complete  perfon,  as  God-Man, 
and  as  Mediator  ;  or  as  a  man  united  to  Godhead  : 
and  they  may  and  muft  fignify  his  exaltation  in  his 
mediatorial  charaiSter  to  thefe  honours  and  authori- 
ties ;  without  the  indwelling  Godhead,  feveral  of 
them  feem  to  be  too  fublime  for  a  man.  But  ilill 
the  moft  natural,  obvious,  and  primary  meaning  of 
them,  refers  to  that  human  nature,  which  alone  can 
be  the  proper  fubjeft  of  real  abafement  and  advance- 
ment, which  alone  could  really  fufFer,  and  which 
alone  could  receive  real  exaltation  ,  for  the  divine 
nature  in  itfelf  is  utterly  uncapable  of  either.  It  is 
the  Man  who  is  exalted,  even  the  Man  Jefus  who  is 
called  the  Mediator,  but  it  is  the  Man  who  is  one 
with  God.  He  obeyed  and  fuffered  and  died  as 
man,  but  united  to  God  :  He  rofe  and  was  exalted  as 
man,  but  ftill  united  to  God.  I  beg  pardon  if  I  have 
dwelt  too  long  on  this  point,  or  repeated  any  thing 
which  I  had  faid  before.     The  doQ:rine  itfelf  feems 

t» 


?>ECT.  li.  of  Chrijf  glorified.  !l^ 

to  require  it  of  me,  that  if  poffible  I  might  leave  no 
fcruple  on  the  minds  of  pious  readers  who  are  honeft- 
]y  fearching  out  the  truth,  and  would  fecure  the  hon- 
ours of  their  blefled  Redeemer. 

It  may  be  inquired  here,  What  afts  can  the  Man 
Jefus  put  forth  in  his  human  nature  toward  the  gov- 
ernment of  Heaven  and  earth  ? 

I  anlvver — As  he  is  now  let  into  the  counfels  and 
decrees  of  God,  and  by  his  immediate  union  with 
the  divine  nature  he  nov/  receives  perpetual  notice 
of  i\\  the  affairs  in  the  upper  and  lower  worlds,  fo 
he  can  give  his  orders  to  the  millions  of  attending 
angels  to  execute  works  of  judgment  and  mercy  ; 
they  are  all  miniftering  fpirits  to  him.  He  can  man- 
age the  affiiirs  of  providence  by  angels  as  his  inftru- 
ments  for  the  government  of  the  nations  and  the 
good  of  his  faints;  And  he  that  has  led  captivity 
captive,  and  fiibdued  the  prince  of  darknefs,  with  alt 
the  armies  of  hell  into  fiavery  to  himfelf,  he  can 
give  them  permiffion  to  exercife  their  rage  amongft 
mankind,  under  fuch  limitations  and  reftraints  as 
he  fees  proper.  Thus  he  may  govern  all  things  by 
the  angels  or  devils,  as  his  mediums,  or  inftruments  : 
and  he  may  do  it  alio  by  himfelf  in  a  more  imme- 
diate manner. 

Let  me  alk.  May  not  Chrift  keep  the  wheels  of 
nature  in  their  courfes,  and  adminider  the  providen- 
tial kingdom  by  virtue  derived  from  the  indwelling 
Godhead  }  May  he  not  exert  his  dominion  amonglt 
all  the  material  elements,  and  the  inhabitants  of  air, 
earth  and  water,  as  well  as  amongft  the  fpirits  of  the 
invifible  world  ?  Shall  prophets  and  apoftles  and 
captains  have  a  refemblance  of  fuch  power  given 
them  on  earth,  and  lliall  not  Jefus  the  Son  of  God 
have  the  fubftance  and  plenitude  of  it,  efpecially 
now  in  heaven  .''  Could  a  Mofes  divide  the  fea  with 
bis  rod,  and  turn  flints  into  rivers  of  water  }  Could  a 
H  Jolhu* 


a 4-  The  cxtenfrjc  Powers  Disc.  Hi 

Jofnua  fay  to  the  fun,  Stand  thou  dill,  and  forbid 
the  moon  to  move  ?  Could  a  Paul  make  fevers  and 
dropfies  depart  at  his  word,  and  flee  at  the  appear- 
ance of  his  handkerchief,  Acls  xix.  12.  ?  Could  Pe- 
ter heal  the  fick  with  his  fliadow  pafTing  over  them, 
Ad:s  XV.  15.  and  command  Tabitha  to  arife  from 
the  dead  ?  And  (hall  we  not  fuppofe  the  Man  Chrifl 
Jefus  in  his  exalted  ftate,  with  all  the  power  and  glo- 
ry of  indwelling  and  united  Godhead  ;  I  fay,  fhall 
ive  not  fuppofe  him  able  to  rule  time  and  nature  as 
he  pleales,  and  to  manage  all  things  in  heaven  and 
earth,  all  things  mortal  and  immortal  ? 

Or  if  we  Hft  our  thoughts  to  the  angelic  legions 
a,nd  furvey  their  powers,  muft  we  not  fuppole  the 
power  communicated  to  our  exalted  Saviour  to  be 
far  fuperior  to  theirs?  Shalt  it  be  within  the  power 
oi  a  lingle  angel,  when  fent  with  ar  peftilence,  to  de- 
ftroy  feventy  thoufands  of  Ifracl  in  order  to  punifh 
David's  fin,  2  Sam.  xxiv.  15,  16  ?  or  to  flay  a  hun- 
dred and  fourfcore  and  five  thoufand  Aflyrian  fol- 
diers  iry  the  camp  of  Sennacherib  in"  one  night,. 
2  Kings  xix.  35  ?  or  fliall  it  be  within  the  reach  of 
Satan's  power  and  commifllon,  as  he  is  the  '  prince 
of  th'e  powers  of  the  air,'  to  raife  ftorms  and  hurri- 
canes,' and  to  fend  lightning  from  heaven,  Job  i.  16, 
19?  and  fliall  not  the  blelfed  foul  of  our  exalted 
Redeemer  have  more  tranfcendent  power  than  an- 
gels or  devils?'  Why  fhould  it  not  be  within  the 
reach  of  his  human  will,  by  methods  of  unknown 
influence,  to  govern  the  winds  and  the  waters,  the 
earthly  and  the  heavenly  bodies,  to  fubferve  the 
counlels  of  his  Father  and  his  ov/n  gracious  purpofes 
towards  his  people  ? 

Or  if  it  fiiould  be  doubted  at  prefcnf  by  any  of  my 
readers,  whether  Chrift's  own  human  power  reaches 
to  an  immediate  management  of  all  thefe  affairs  at  fa 
prodigious  diftances,  yet  we  may  be  affured,  as  I 

hinted 


Sect.  II.  of  Ckyifl  glorified.  ii^ 

hinted  before,  it  is  not  above  the  power  of  human 
nature,  fo  exalted  and  fo  nearly  united  to  God,  to 
give  orders  of  this  kind  to  the  {landing  or  fallen  an- 
gels, which  the  divine  nature  has  taken  care  ihall  be 
pun£tuall5'  and  exadly  fulfilled  :  and  thus  '  he  (hall 
feign  till  he  has  brought  all  his  enemies  under  his  feet,' 
1  Cor.  XV.  24,  25.  But  a  farther  purfuit  of  this 
fubjc(5t  is  referved  to  the  following  leStion. 

I  proceed  now  to  the  third  inftance  of  power  and 
dignity  to  which  the  human  nature  of  Chriil  is  ex- 
alted. .  ^ 

III.  Chrift  as  man  united  to  God  is  *  exalted  to 
become  a  Prince  and  a  Saviour,  to  give  repentance 
to  Ifrael  and  forgivenefs  of  fins,'  Acts  v.  31,  This 
fcripture  muft  certainly  include  and  chiefly  regard 
the  manhood  of  Chrift,  for  it  is  that  fame  *  Jefus,* 
faith  St.  Peter  to  the  Jews,  *  whom  ye  flew  and  hang- 
ed on  a  tree,'  that  the  *  God  of  our  fathers  hatk 
raifed  up'  and  exalted  to  this  dignity. 

Befides,  it  is  impo'fiible  that  the  divine  nattire 
ihould  be  really  and  properly  '  exalted  to  be  a  PriAce 
and  a  Ssiviour,'  &c.  for  it  would  be  humiliation,  and^ 
not  exaltation,  for  the  piire  divine  nature  to  accept' 
of  thefe  titles  and  perform  thefe  offices  even  by  way 
of  deputation  and  vicegerency  to  the  Father,  when' 
it  had  iupremc  authority  originally  and  eternally  iri- 
itfelf  without  any  donation  or  deputation. 

It  will  be  faid  here.  What  can  the  Man  Jefus  do' 
toward  the  giving  repentance  and  forgivenefs  ? 

I  would  humbly  inquire  whether  it  were  not  liis' 
human  nature  fent  forth  his  apoftles  when'  he  was 
here  on  earth  ?  And  is  it  not  the  Man  Jefus  who" 
fends  his  niinifters  abroad  into  the  naticns'  in  his 
prefent  exaltation  in  heaven  ?  Is  it  not  ftill  the  Man 
i'n  whom  Godhead  dwells  ?  Is  it  not  he  who  '  p-ives 
apoftles,  prophets,  evangelifts,  j^aftors  and  teachers' 
tb  publ-irb'  this  dodrine  of  repentance  and  forgivenefs 
¥k  z  in 


>i6  The  extenfiv:  P  quo  as  Drsc.  if: 

in  his  name  r  *  He  that  afcended  on  high'  after  he 
had  '  defcended  into  the  lower  parts  of  the  earth  ?' 
He  that  *  received  gifts  for  men,'  Pfahii  Ixviil.  iS. 
and  gave  thefe  gifts  unto  men  '  for  the  perfecting  the 
faints,  for  the  work  of  the  miniftry,  and  for  th.e  ed- 
ifying his  body,'  Eph.  iv.  8,  12.  ? 

And  though  wc  may  reafonably  fuppofe  the  Man 
Jefus  confidered  alone  has  not  now,  nor  could  ever 
have  fufficient  power  in  himfelf,  abflrafted  from  De- 
ity, to  change  the  hearts  of  nitn,  make  obftinatc, 
fmners  become  penitent,  and  feal  the  forgivenefs  of 
fins  with  comfort  to  their  confcienccs  ;  yet  the  Man 
Jefus  may  fay,  Father,  I  will  that  this  and  the  other' 
obdurate  finner  be  reclain:ied,  foftencd  and  fanftified  : 
Father,  I  will  that  his  fins  be  forgiven  him  :  and 
hereupon  the  bleffed  Spiri^of  God  works  this  divine 
change  in  the  (inner,- and  feals  this  forgivenefs  to  the 
foul.  Why  may  not  Jefus  work  wonders  of  grace 
on  the  fouls  of  men,  in  the  fame  way  as  he  wrought 
miracles  of  healing  on  their  bodies  ? 

I  add  further,  the  man  Jefus  may  exert  a  volition' 
that  fuch  and  fuch  a  rebellious  finner  be  converted. 
Ibftened  and  pardoned  ;  and  according  to  the  facrcd 
and  unfearchabk  laws  of  the  union  between  his  di- 
vine and  human  nature,  the  efFed  mav  be  wrou2;ht 
and  the  blefiing  given  by  the  omnipotence  and  au- 
thority of  the  indwelling  Godhead  :  and  in  this 
fenfe  the  exalted  human  nature  exerting  fuch  a  vo- 
lition becomes  a  confcious  inftrument  or  agent  in- 
beftowing  thefe  divine  favours.  You  will  fay,  per- 
haps, was  it  not  fo  in  his  flate  of  humiliation  as  well- 
as  now  ?  And  what  advanta2;e  then  has  Chrill  exalt- 
ed  ?  Did  not  the  podhcad  work  the  miracle  by  the 
intervening  a£i:  of  Chrift's  human  will  ? 

1  anfver,  yes  certainly  :  but  the  difference  be- 
tween his  agency  in  his  exalted  and  in  his  humbled, 
.date  feems  to  be  this :  while  our  Redeemer  was  oni 

earth 


Sect.  ir.  §f  CJiriJi  glorified.  luf 

earth  in  his  humbled  (late,  he  feems  to  live  by  more 
apparent,  conftant,  immediate  and  aftual  addrefles 
to  and  dependence  on  the  Godhead  for  every  fingle 
miracle  he  wrought,  than  perhaps  he  does  now. 
This  dependence  was  fometimes  manifefted  to  the 
fjieftators,  by  praying  to  his  Father  when  he  was  to 
work  a  miracle,  as  in  raifing  Lazarus  from  the  dead. 
John  xi.  41.  He  faid  'Father,  I  thank  thee  that 
thou  haft  heard  me,'  and  yet  then  he  fpake  his  will 
with  authority,  ver.  43.  *  Lazarus,  come  forth.' 
At  other  times,  this  actual  dependence  was  conftant-* 
ly  pradifed,  though  he  did  not  manifeft  it  to  the 
rpe6tators  :  fo  when  Chrift  healed  the  leper,  Matth. 
viii.  the  Man  Jefus  faid,  *  I  will,  be  thou  clean  ;' 
and  immediately  the  miracle  was  wrought.  By  the 
intervening  volition  of  Chrift  as  man,  the  dead  was 
raifed  and  the  leper  was  cleanfed  ;  but  it  was  the 
power  of  God  was  prefent  with  the  will  of  the  man 
to  heal  the  fick  and  to  raife  the  dead,  as  it  is  exprelied 
in'Luke  v.  17. 

And  thus  the  Man  Jefus,  being  now  exalted  to  a 
more  fovereign  fort  of  agency,  to  *  quicken  whom 
he  will,'  John  v,  21.  hath  a  fpecial  intereft  in  thofe 
titles,  a  '-  Prince  and  a  Saviour,'  and  in  beftowing 
f  repentance  and  forgivenefs,'  Adts  ii.  31,  32,  33* 
becaufe  his  will  is  made  as  it  were  the  agent.  He 
afcended  to  heaven,  he  received  the  promife  of  the 
Spirit,  he  poured  down  thofe  gifts  of  the  Spirit  on  his 
apoftles  and  the  primitive  Chriftians,  for  the  ordi- 
nary and  extraordinary  works  of  grace,  for  it  is  by 
his  will  thefe  things  were  done. 

IV.  The  human  nature  of  our  Lord  Jefus  Chrift 
has  fome  influence  in  the  fuccour  and  fupport  of 
tempted  Chriftians,  Heb.  iv.  15.  The  apoftle  af- 
lures  us,  '  We  have  an  High  Prieft  who  was  tempted 
in  all  points  as  we  are,  but  without  fin  ;  and  he  can 
I??  touched  with  the  feeling  of  our  infirmities,'  i.  e. 

b9 


•ii^  The  extenjive  Towers  Disc.  II. 

he  has  a  human  fympathy  arifing  from  his  human 
fufferings,  and  therefore  we  are  encouraged  to  '  come 
to  the  throne  of  grace  to  find  help.*  And,  chap.  ii. 
v.  i8.  '  in  that  he  himfelf  has  fuffered  being  tempt- 
ed, he  is  able  to  fuccour  them  that  are  tempted.* 
Now  fmce  his  ability  to  fuccour  tempted  fouls  does 
arife  in  part  from  his  human  fympathy,  and  from 
his  own  experience  of  fufferings  and  temptations 
jn  his  human  nature,  it  leads  us  naturally  to  con- 
ceive that  even  his  human  foul  has  fome  hand  iii 
the  fuccour  of  tempted  faints, 

1.  Becaufe  the  divine  nature  is  not  rendered  more 
able  to  fuccour  them  by  all  the  temptations  that  the 
human  nature  fuftained.  The  divine  nature  is  in- 
finitely and  eternally  able  to  fuccour,  without  any 
regard  at  all  to  the  human  nature,  v/hether  that  had 
been  tempted  or  not. 

2.  It  is  the  dcilgn  of  this  chapter  to  fneak  of  the 
human  nature,  or  rather  the  incarnation  of  Chrift, 
V.  1 7.  He  rnuft  become  like  us  in  '  flefh  and  blood, 
that  he  might  be  a  merciful  High  Pried  to  make 
reconciliation  :'  now  here  the  human  nature  is  the 
chief  agent,  or  rather  patient,  in  making  atonement 
and  reconciliation,  though  the  digriity  and  complete 
merit  arifeth  from  its  union  |:o  the  divine  nature. 
Then  in  the  next  verfe  his  human  nature  having 
been  tempted,  is  iitted  and  enabled  to  fuccour  them 
that  are  tempted,  by  its  own  fympathy  with  them, 
as  he  was  man,  but  Itill  fuppofing  him  united  to 
Deity.  This  is  the  moft  natural  and  neceffary  fenfe 
of  the  words. 

Obferve  further,  that  Chrld  is  reprefented  as  the 
head  of  the  church  in  raaay  fcriptures,  and  the  faints 
as  his  mem.bers  ;  now  this  headlliip  mull  be  referred 
fpecially  to  his  human  nature,  though  not  exclud- 
ing the  divine,  becaufe  the  members  and  head  mull 
be  of  the  fame  nature.     The  ad  chapter  to  the  Hc- 

breivs. 


Se c T *  n.  9f  Ch^0  glorified.  1 1 ^ 

brews,  feems  to  be  written  with  this  defign,  to  fliew 
the  neceffity  of  Chrift's  incarnation,  in  order  to  fufr 
tain  the  proper  and  appointed  relations  to  his  ovvri 
people,  viz.  '  Bec^ufe  the  children  were  partakers  of 
ilefli  and  blood,  therefore  he  took  part  of  the  fame,* 
that  he  might  be  a  Brother,  a  Prieft,  a  Father,  a  Suc- 
pourer  of  the  tempted,  &c.  Nor  can  any  relation 
feem  more  neceffarily  to  require  his  having  a  human 
nature,  than  that  of  head  and  members.  Now  in 
What  fcnfe  can  the  Man  Jefus  bear  the  relation  of 
fuch  a  vital  or  fympathifing  head  united  to  his  body, 
the  church,  if  he  has  no  particuUr  knowledge  of  the 
wants,  forrows  and  fufferings  of  his  particular  mem- 
bers ;  if  he  has  only  a  mere  general  confufed  knowl- 
edge that  he  has  members  on  earth  who  endure  for- 
row  and  fufiTering,  though  he  knows  not  how  many, 
nor  which  they  be,  nor  is  he  able,  as  man,  to  do  any 
thing  for  their  particular  relief  ?  Would  it  not  be 
ftrange  to  fay,  he  has  the  mod  near  and  intimate 
relation  of  headfliip  to  his  members,  as  he  is  man, 
and  of  the  fame  nature  with  them,  and  yet  he  cannot 
do  any  thing  for  the  fupport  or  fuccour  of  any  of 
them,  by  the  powers  of  the  very  nature,  whereby 
he  fuftains  this  relation,  and  whereby  chiefly  he  be- 
comes their  head  ?  It  is  granted  that  the  indwelling- 
Godhead  capacitates  him  for  the  fupply  of  the  wants 
of  his  members,  by  furnifhing  him  with  all  grace  5 
but  I  think  that  human  nature  by  which  he  emi- 
nently fuftains  this  relation  and  becomes  a  head,  may 
be  allowed  to  be  an  intelligent  and  confcious  medi- 
Vim  of  conveying  thefe  fupplies. 

V.  If  it  (hould  not  be  allowed  that  Jefus  Chrifl:, 
as  man,  can  beftow  effedual  fuccour  and  relief  on 
his  tempted  faints,  yet  furely  he  is  able  to  make  par- 
ticular interccffion  for  them.  It  is  upon  this  account 
he  is  declared  '  able  to  fave  to  the  uttermoft  thofc 
that  come  to  God  by  him,  bccaufe  he  ever-  lives  to 

make 


}:z9  The  extenjivc  Powers  Disc.  II. 

make  Interceflion  for  them,'  Hcb.  vii.  25.  Now 
we  cannot  fuppofe  it  is  the  divine  nature  which  prop- 
erly and  diredtly  intercedes  or  pleads  for  us  in  heav- 
en, but  the  Man  Jefus,  who  gave  us  a  pattern  of 
that  interceflion  here  on  earth,  John  xvii.  though 
it  may  be  the  diyine  nature  united  that  renders  this 
interceffion  fo  univerfaHy  powerful  and  prevalent. 

Nor  can  we  fuppofe  tiiat  Chrift  intercedes  merely 
in  general  for  all  his  faints,  without  knowledge  of 
their  particular  perfons,  or  their  prefent  particular 
circumftances ;  for  this  is  no  more  than  every  Chrift- 
lan  on  earth  does  or  fliould  do  :  we  fliould  all  inter- 
{:ede  or  plead  in  that  manner  *  for  all  the  faints,' 
Ji,phef.  vi.  18.  though  our  pleadings  have  not  the 
fame  efficacy  as  his,  nor  are  vve  fiippofed  to  have  the 
lame  knowledge  of  their  wants, 

Wheri  we  are  told  that  our  great  High  Prieft, 
vvhofe  fpecial  work  and  office  in  heaven  is  to  make 
interceflion  for  us,  '  is  palled  into  the  heavens,'  and 
that  he  *  can  be  touched  with  the  feeling  of  our  in- 
firmities,  having  hirnfelf  been  tempted  as  we  are  ;' 
can  we  ever  imagine  that  this  does  not  refer  to  the 
human  nature  of  Chrift,  finpe  none  of  thefe  expref- 
fions  are  applicable  to  his  deity  ?  And  can  we  think 
that  the  fcripture  vyould  repreferjt  our  encourage- 
ments to  apply  ourfelves  to  him  as  an  interceffor  in 
fuch  tender  and  fympathetic  language,  if  he  knew 
pnly  in  general  that  there  were  thoufands  of  tempted 
faints  on  earth,  but  had  no  particular  knowledge  of 
their  perfons,  their  fpecial  kinds  of  temptation  and 
prefent  diflrefs,  which  might  awaken  this  fympathy, 
and  engage  his  fpecial  rcprefentation  of  their  cafes  to 
the  Father  ? 

VI.  The  human  nature  of  Chrift  imited  to  his 
Godhead  is  exalted  to  receive  honours  from  men 
and  angels  in  the  upper  and  lower  worlds,  upon  thq 
account  of  its  obedience,   forrows   and  fuffering^. 


Sect.  II.  e/"  Clirtjf  glorified.  i%i 

it  is  one  part  of  the  reward  promifed  to  men  of  pie- 
ty, that  they  (hall  enjoy  glory  and  honour,  as  well  as 
immortality  and  peace,  Rom.  ii.  7,  10.  And  furely 
Diir  bleffed  Saviour  has  at  leaft  a  right  to  (hare  m 
thz  general  promife  made  to  men,  and  to  have  his 
iranfcendent  and  perfed  piety  rewarded  with  tranfr 
cendent  honours  and  glories. 

Therefore  when  the  apoftle  had  defcribed  him  as 
'  man,'  or  the  '  Son  of  man,'  or  the  *  fecond  Adam,' 
in  Hebrews  ii.  9.  he  adds,  '  We  fee  him  for  the  fuf- 
fering  of  death  crowned  with  glory  and  honour  :' 
for  thefe  fufFerings  and  this  death  he  voluntarily 
fuftained,  as  a  piece  of  the  moil  fubmiflive  obe- 
dience to  his  heavenly  Father,  and  moft  amazing 
charity  to  mankind  ;  therefore,  he  was  entitled  to 
Jhe  glorious  recompenfe. 

You  (ind  thefe  honours  paid  to  him  in  heaven, 
according  to  the  Father's  promife  and  appointment. 
Not  only  the  faints,  who  were  redeemed  by  the 
blood  of  Chrift,  but  the  '  angels  round  about  the 
throne,  fay  with  a  loud  voice,  Worthy  is  the  Lamb 
that  was  (lain  to  receive  power  and  riches,  and  wif- 
dom,  and  ftrength,  and  honour,  and  glory,  and 
bleffing,' Rev.  v.  11,  12.  'and  every  creature  in 
heaven,  on  earth,  and  in  the  fea,  join  their  honours 
and  their  ble(rmgs  to  him  that  lits  upon  the  throne, 
and  to  the  Lamb  forever,'  ver.  13.  As  the  man  is 
atTumed  into  union  with  the  Godhead,  fo  the  vvhole 
peribn  of  Chrift  the  Mediator  or  God-Man  becomes 
the  object  of  adoration,  as  our  beft  divines  generally 
agree. 

Read  what  the  apoftle  declares,  Philip,  ii.  9,  10, 
II.  '  Chrift  humbled  himfelf  and  became  obedient 
to  the  death  of  the  crofs ;  wherefore  God  alfo  hath 
highly  exalted  him,  and  given  him  a  name  which  is 
above  every  name,  that  at  the  name  of  Jefus  every 
Jcnee  fhould  bow,  of  things  in  heaven,  and  things  in 

earth, 


J2Z  The  eKtenfive  "Powers'         Disc.  IT. 

earth,  and  things  under  the  earth  ;  and  that  every 
tongue  fhould  confefs  that  Jefus  Chrlfl:  is  Lord,  to 
the  glory  of  the  Father.'  Surely  it  is  the  human 
nature  that  fcems  to  be  exalted  here  to  this  dignity, 
as  it  Hands  united  to  the  divine  ;  and  this  is  mani- 
feft,  not  only  becaufe  the  divine  nature  could  not  re- 
ceive this  exaltation,  having  an  original  and  undc- 
rived  right  to  worQ^ip,  but  alfo  becaufe  his  human 
fufferings  are  the  reafon  of  his  exaltation. 

I  am  ready  to  believe  that  the  human  nature  of 
Chrift  knov/s  and  beholds  all  the  knees  bowing  to 
him,  and  hears  all  the  tongues  confeiTing  him,  or 
eife  how  can  this  be  a  proper  recompenfe  for  the 
fufferings  of  Clirifl:  in  his  human  nature  ?  Does  the 
Godhead  derive  recompenfes  from  the  fufferings  of 
the  man  ?  or  can  God  be  faid  thus  to  exalt  the  pure 
divine  nature  to  be  the  objeft  of  adoration  ?  Has 
the  human  nature  of  Chrift  no  fhare  in  this  reward  ? 
or  is  the  human  nature  of  Chrift  recompenfed  fome 
other  w^ay,  i.  e.  by  making  a  luminous  figure  in  heav- 
en, arrayed  in  bright  ornaments  above  the  clouds  or 
ftars,  but  ignorant  of  the  honours  done  him  by  the 
church  on  earthy  while  yet  thefe  very  honours  done 
him  on  earth  are  declared  to  be  his  appointed  rec- 
ompenfe ?  How  unreafonable  and  ablurd  is  fuch  u 
fuppofition  ! 

It  will  be  objected  here  indeed,  How  can  any 
thing  that  is  not  pure  God  be  made  any  part  of  the 
objeil  of  religi^bus  worlhip  ?  Is  not  this  contrary  to 
the  firft  command,  and  to  the  general  law  of  worlliip 
in  the  Old  and  New  Tellament,  which  direfts  it  to 
be  paid  to  God  only  ? 

Anfiv.  1  think,  the  human  nature  of  Chrift  is  no 
othei'wife  capable  of  religious  worfnip,  according  to 
the  ilatutes  of  heaven,  but  by  being  thus  glorioully 
united  to  the  divine  :  but  when  it  is  thus  united,  the 
whole  complex  perfon  may  be  made  the  objeit  ot 

rcligiouf: 


Se.c  t .  iL  sf  Chrijl  glorified,  jj  23 

religious  vvcrlhip,  if  God  fee  fit,  lince  the  perfon  who 
is  worfhipped  is  really  one  with  God,  and  has  per- 
fonal  communion  with  the  divine  nature.  But  for 
.the  further  removal  of  thefe  objedions  and  all  the 
difficulties  of  this  kind,  fee  my  pilTertation  on  the 
Worfhip  of  Chrift  as  God -Man  and  Mediator,  DiiF, 
3.  Prop.  S,  9.  where  I  have  not  only  proved  it  froni 
fcripture,  but  cited  the  teftimony  of  fome  of  our 
greateO:  writers  to  fupport  it,  fuch  as  Turretine  and 
Dr.  Owen. 

yil.  Chrift  as  man  (but  in  union  with  God)  is 
conftituted  Judge  of  the  world.  This  is  often  re- 
peated in  fcripture  :  Acis  xvii.  31.  *  God  hath  ap- 
pointed 2.  day  wherein  he  will  judge  the  world  in 
righteoufnefs  by  that  Man  whom  he  hath  ordained, 
whereof  he  hath  given  affurance  unto  all  men,  in 
that  he  hath  raifed  him  from  the  dead.'  This  is 
part  of  St.  Paul's  fermon  to  the  Athenians.  And 
St.  Peter,  in  his  fermon  to  Cornelius,  Ads  x.  38, 
&:c.  fays,  concerning  *  Jefus  of  Nazareth,  who  was 
anointed  with  the  Ploly  Ghoft,  and  whom  God 
raifed  from  the  dead,  he  has  commanded  us  to 
preach  to  the  people,  and  to  teflify  that  it  is  he 
which  was  ordained  of  God  to  be  the  judge  of  the 
quick  and  the  dead.'  It  is  he,  even  the  Man  Jefus, 
who  lived  at  Nazareth,  fliali  be  the  judge  :  it  is  the 
Man  Chrift  Jefus  who  '  defcends  from  heaven  with 
a  Ihout,  and  with  the  found  of  a  trumpet,*  fhali 
f  fend  his  angels  and  gather  his  elect  from  every 
quarter  of  the  earth  ;'  he  Ihall  call  to  the  dead,  and 
they  '  that  are  in  their  graves  fuall  hear  the  voice  of 
the  Son  of  God  and  live;'  for  all  'judgment  is 
committed  to  him,*  John  v.  27-*,^  becaufe  he  is  the 
Son  of  man,'  i.  e.  the  Man  the  Meffiah. 

1  cannot  think  that  the  manhood  of  Chrift  would 
have  been  lb  exprefsly  and  peculiarly  reprefented 
under  this  charader  and  office  of  the  final  judge  of 

the 


124  The  extenfive  Powers  Disc.  IL 

the  world,  if  the  affairs  of  that  awful  and  folemrj 
day  were  not  committed  to  him,  and  if  the  cogni*- 
zance  of  the  hearts  and  adlions  of  men,  fo  far  as  to 
decide  their  eternal  ftates  jultly,  were  not  communi- 
cated to  the  Man  Jefus  by  his  perfonal  union  with 
the  divine  nature.  Surely  he  fliail  not  (it  upon  that 
tribunal  like  a  glorious  or  fhining  cypher,  or  make  a 
bright  unactivc  figure  there.  No,  by  no  means. 
The  bufinels  of  the  judgment  mull  pafs  through  his 
hands  and  his  head,  as  Dr.  Goodwin  exprefles  it, 
concerning  the  government  of  the  world,  when  he 
explains  that  text,  Matth.  xxviii.  i8.  And  when 
he  fpeaks  of  the  judgment  of  mankind  by  Jefus 
Chrift,  he  fpeaks  more  highly  and  honourably  of  the 
injfluence  that  the  human  nature  of  Chrift  will  hav(i 
in  it,  than  I  dare  venture  to  do  here.  See  Vol.  II. 
Book  3.  Chap.  ult.  And  indeed  I  may  fupport  the 
boldefi:  language  I  ufe  in  any  part  of  this  diicourfe 
concerning  the  moft  extenfive  powers  of  the  Man 
Jefus  in  his  glorified  (late,  by  fuch  a  venerable  prec- 
edent :  the  authority  of  that  great  and  excellent 
man  will  abundantly  excufe  and  defend  me  among 
£,li  thofe  who  have  an  efteem  for  his  valuable  writ-* 

VIII.  It  might  be  added  in  the  lai't  place,  that 
our  bleffed  Saviour,  confidered  as  man,  has  fome 
unknown  and  mofi;  extenfive  ways  of  communicat- 
ing his  prefence,  his  influence  and  his  glory  to  all 
the  millions  of  faints  in  the  heavenly  world  ;  for  the 
heaven  of  each  of  them  confifts  partly  in  being 
*  prefent  with  Chrift,'  2  Cor.  v.  8.  '  and  beholding 
his  glory  which  the  Father  gave  him  ;'  i.  c.  the  glo- 
ry of  his  human  ^ature,  or  at  lead  as  God-Man. 
John  xiv.  3.  and  xvii.  24.  Now  it  is  but  a  poor, 
low,  and  carnal  idea  of  the  heavenly  ftate  and  blefl- 
cdnels,  if  we  conceive  the  common  rank  of  faints 
to  have  no  nearer  accefs  to  Chrift,  and   no  mor.t 

participatiori 


fe'liCT.  II!.  ff  Chriji  glorified,  i^-^ 

participation  of  his  prefence,  or  views  of  his  glory^, 
than  merely  to  dwell  in  the  fame  fpacious  regions  of 
heaven,  and  to  behold  a  man  afar  off  raifed  on  a  high 
throne,  and  arrayed  in  light  at  a  great  diftance.  Sure- 
ly the  immediate  prefence  of  the  Man  Chrift,  and  im- 
mediate communion  with  him,  fliall  be  fomething 
more  near,  more  intimate,  and  more  blifsful  than 
fuch  a  diftant  fight  of  him. 

Shall  it  be  faid,  that  the  powers  of  every  glorified 
faint  Ihall  be  vaftly  enlarged,  to  take  in  the  bleiFed 
prolped  and  enjoyment,  though  the  objeft  may  be 
afar  oft'  ?  And  may  it  not  be  faid  alfo  with  more 
realbn,  that  the  powers  of  our  glorified  Saviour  (hall 
be  much  more  enlarged  to  communicate  himfeif 
and  his  glories  to  the  meaneft  and  mofc  diftant  in- 
habitants of  heaven  ?  May  he  not  make  himfeif, 
even  in  his  human  nature  as  v/ell  as  his  divine,  im- 
mediately prefent  with  them  all,  by  a  moft  exten- 
five  difFufion  of  his  hum.an  a;s  well  as  his  divine  glo- 
ries ? 

SECT.       III. 

j4  rational  Account  Jiozv  the  Man  Jefiis  Clinjl  may  he 
vejied  with  fuck  extenfive  Pozvers. 

X  HE  great  difficulty  of  receiving  this  doctrine, 
flill  lies  here — How  is  it  poffible  that  a  human  fpirit 
fliouid  be  endued  Vv^ith  powers  of  fo  vaft  an  extent  ? 
Can  it  ever  be  fuppofed  that  a  human  foul,  a  man, 
fliould  know  all  things  that  are  done  in  this  earth  ? 
that  he  fliould  be  acquainted  with  the  hearts  and 
thoughts  of  all  men  i^  and  fliould  take  a  fufficient 
cognizance  of  every  minute  affair  tfhat  paffes  through 
the  hands  and  the  hearts  of  all  hum-an  creatures,  in 
order  to  govern  and  judge  fo  large  a  part  of  the 
creation, 

Jnfzii. 


ii^  The  ixtenfive  Powers  Disc,  if, 

AnJ'W.  I.  Perhaps  it  may  not  be  abfolutely  nec- 
eflary  that  every  fingle  thought,  word,  or  adion  of 
every  particular  creature  fliould  be  known  to  the 
human  foul  of  Chrift,  in  order  to  fulfil  his  part  or 
province  in  governing  and  judging  mankind  :  but 
all  the  greater,  more  general,  and  more  confiderable 
affairs  and  tranfaftions  of  nations,  churches  and  par- 
ticular perfons,  may  be  made  known  to  the  Man  Je- 
fus,  {o  far,  that  in  unicii  with  the  Godhead  he  may 
be  properly  called  the  governor  and  the  judge,  and 
may  execute  and  fulfil  thofe  glorious  offices  :  and  if 
he  lliould  not  in  an  immediate  manner  be  aftually 
confcious  of,  or  actually  influence  the  minuted  cir- 
cumffances  and  actions  of  men,  yet  he  may  have 
fufhcient  powers  fo  know  and  influence  all  thofe 
greater  affairs,  in"'  xvhicH  the  leffer  and  more  minute 
circumftances  are  alfo  involved. 

An  earthly  king  may  be  properly  faid  to  govern' 
and  judge  his  people,  who'  are  fpread  through  many 
large  provinces,  without  the  particular  knowledge 
of  all  the  minuter  concerns  of  his  fnbjeds  :  yet  if 
he  apply  himfelf  with  diligence  to  fulfil  his  office, 
he  may  obtain  a  particular  acquaintance  with  ten 
thoufand  affairs  that  rehte  to  the  various  provinces 
of  his  dominion  j  and  he  may  employ  proper  agents 
to  execute  all, his  orders  in  the  feveral  towns  and  vil- 
lages of  his  government,  which  his  own  eyes  or  his 
own  hands  perhaps  cannot  reach.  Now  farely  we 
may  juftly  believe  that  the  intelleftual  powers  of  our 
2;lonfied  Saviour  in  heaven-,  extend  vaftly  beyond 
the  natural'  or  acquired  capacities  of  the  greatefl 
prince  on  earth  ;  it  is  not  impoirible  but  that  the 
Man  Jefus  may  not  only  know  every  faint  around 
him  in  the  heavenif'  regions,  but  that  every  faint  and 
finncr  alfo  in  this  world,  with  all  their  biggefh  turns' 
of  life  and  concerns  of  mind,  may  come  within  his 
notice.     Did  king  Cyrus  know  the  face  and  the 

name 


Sect.  lit.  of  Chriji  glorified.  127 

name  of  every  foldier  in  his  large  army,  and  fliall 
not  Jeius  the  King  of  kings  be  fuppofed  to  have 
iinderftanding  large  enough  to  take  in  all  the  moft 
important  affairs  of  this  lower  world,  and  perhaps 
every  perfon  that  is  under  his  government,  though 
his  knowledge  fhould  not  reach  ail  leffer  circum- 
ftances  ? 

Why  may  not  the  human  foul  of  Chrift  be  as 
well  appointed  to  govern  the  world  as  the  foul  of 
man  is  appointed  to  govern  his  body,  when  it  is 
evident  that  the  foul  of  man  does  not  know  one 
thoiifandth  part  of  the  fine  branchings  of  the  muf- 
cles  and  nerves,  and  the  more  refined  vapour  or  ani- 
mal fpiritSj  which  are  parts  of  this  body  ?  When  the 
foul  of  man  gives  order  to  the  groffer  limbs  to  move  ; 
all  thefe  minute  and  fubtle  parts  and  powers  exert 
their  regular  operations  by  an  original  divine  influ- 
ence and  appointment,  though  the  foul  has  not  a 
particular  confcioufnefs  of  thefe  minute  parts  or 
their  iubtle  operations.  So  our  bleffed  Saviour's 
humanity  may  be  vefted  with  the  proper  title  and 
real  powers  of  a  governor  of  the  world,  without  an 
explicit  knowledge  ot*"  every  lingle  atom  of  it  ;  all 
which  infinite  number  of  atoms,  may  only  be  under 
the  eye  and  influence  of  Godhead. 

The  human  foul  of  Chrift  is  the  briditeft  imase 
or  copy  of  the  divine  nature  that  is  found  among^ 
mere  creatures  ;  and  £hough  it  may  not  receive  all 
the  infinite  variety  of  particular  ideas  of  human  af- 
fairs, which  are  in  the  divine  mind,  yet  it  may  receive 
as  a  tranfcript  from  the  divine  m.ind,  fo  many  of  the 
iargeft  and  ftrongeft  of  thofe  ideas  which  relate  to 
human  affliirs  as  may  be  fufficient  to  qualify  him  for 
the  Judge  of  all,  under  the  immediate  influence  of  in- 
dwelling Deity.  So  a  man  may  tranfcribe  a  copy  of 
the  Hebrev/  bible,  viz.  all  the  letters  or  conlbnants  of 
it,   fufficient  for  himfclf  to  read  and  underftand  it, 

thou2:h 

o 


as     .  T/rn  exieujtve  Poviers  i)i£c.  it: 

though  he  leave  out  every  point,  vowel,  and  accent,' 
which  ibmctimcs  may  be  more  in  number  than  the 
letters  thcmfelvcs. 

It  will  be  objedcd  further,  that  every  thought, 
word  and  adlion  of  human  hfe,  may  fome  way  or 
other  have  influence  on  the  particularities  of  the 
final  judgment,  to  diverfify,  enlarge  or  diminifli  the 
rewards  and  punilliments  of  men  in  the  future  flate  ; 
and  if  Chrifir  as  man  knows  not  the  minuteft  turns 
of  thought  in  every  heart,  he  cannot  be  a  fufficient 
judge,  nor  award  proper  lecohipenles  to  every  one 
according  to  their  works. 

1  anlwer — If  this  be  fo,  yet  fince  the  human  fou^ 
of  Chrifb  can  do  fo'  much  as  I  have  mentioned  to- 
ward the  cognizance  and  judgment  of  mankind,  he 
may  juftly  have  this  work  afligned  to  him,  confider- 
ing  its  union  to  Godhead  ;  and  where  the  faculties 
of  the  human  foul  of  Chrift  are  exerted  to  their  ut- 
moft,  and  yet  fall  fhort,  the  divine  nature,  which  is 
always  prefent,  abundantly  fupplies  all  that  defedt,  by 
a  conftant,  immediate  and  unknown  monition  and 
influence.  'God  has  ordained  a  man  to  judge  the 
world,'  and  yet  '  God  is  Judge  himfeif.  Selah.'  Acl? 
xvii.  and  Pfal.  1. 

And  here  let  it  be  ohfcrved  once  for  all,  that  I 
can  hardly  give  myfelf  leave  to  think  that  any  cre- 
ated fpirit  whatfoever  (hould  know  every  individual 
circumfbance  of  every  being,  and  every  adion  both 
in  the  world  of  bodies  and  the  world  of  fouls. 
Though  Dr.  Goodwin  fuppofes  the  Man  Jefus  capa- 
ble of  nil  this,  I  rather  fuppofe  jt  belongs  only  to  the 
omnilcience  of  God  himfeif,  to  take  in,  with  one  in- 
finite, fimultaneous  and  extenfive  view,  all  the 
fliapcs,  fizes,  fituations  and  motions  of  every  fmgle 
atom  of  which  this  whole  globe  of  earth  is  compoled, 
with  ail  its  animal  and  vegetable  produdions,  and  all 
the  other  planetary  worlds,  the  fun,  moon  and  ftars,- 

with 


SfiCT.  III.  of  Chrijl  glorified.  129 

with  every  action  and  circumftance  of  all  their  in- 
habitants. I  content  inyfelf  rather  to  think  it  is  a 
prerogative  only  of  God  the  Creator,  the  infinite 
Spirit,  to  be  perfeftly  acquainted  with  every  motion 
of  the  mind,  every  inward  thought  and  manner  of 
a(5tion  that  belongs  to  all  the  innumerable  inhabit- 
ants of  the  intelledual  world,  both  men  and  angels. 
Should  it  be  granted  that  any  creature  could  overfee 
and  overrule  every  minute  affair  that  relates  to  the 
worlds  of  mind  and  matter,  and  every  thought  and 
atom  that  belongs  to  them  all,  fometimes  I  think 
this  would  approach  lb  near  to  the  diftinguifhing 
properties  and  prerogatives  which  God  hath  aflumed 
and  peculiarized  to  himfelf  in  this  world,  that  it 
would  feem  to  take  away  that  plain  and  obvious 
diftindlion  between  God  and  the  creature  which 
ought  to  be  maintained  facred  and  inviolable.  Scrip- 
ture feems  to  limit  my  thoughts  about  a  creature's 
power  in  this  manner. 

Whatfoever  therefore  I  may  fpeak  in  this  treatife 
according  to  the  moft  ralfed  apprehenfions  I  have  of 
the  extent  of  the  human  intelledlual  powers  of 
Chrift,  I  can  hardly  fuppofe  them  to  reach  any  far- 
ther than  to  take  a  juil  cognifance  of  all  thofe  great- 
er and  more  important  motions  and  aclions,  circum- 
fcances  and  relations  of  the  material  and  immaterial 
v/crlds  on  which  the  government  of  them  chiefly  de- 
pends ;  and  perhaps  alfo  even  this  may  be  impoffible 
Vv'ithout  his  peculiar  union  to  the  divine  nature. 
He  may  thus  have  a  timultaneous  and  comprehen- 
five  view  of  all  the  greater  affairs  of  every  inhabitant 
of  the  upper  and  lower  worlds,  and  may  alfo  have  a 
fucceffive  and  particular  knowledge  of  any  minuter 
circumitances  that  attend  them,  whenever  the  in- 
dwelling Deity  fees  it  neceliary  to  communicate  it 
to  him  for  any  fpecial  occafions.  As  the  general  of 
an  army  ftanding  on  an  hiii  furvcys  the  troops  en- 
•  1  gaged 


1 5 a  The  extenfvje  Powers  D i  s c .  11 . 

gaged  in  battle,  he  can  diftinguifh  perhaps  every 
regiment,  and  their  changes  of  ground,  when  they 
charge,  and  when  they  retreat,  but  cannot  know 
every  fword  that  is  drawn,  nor  hear  every  groan  ; 
yet  fome  particulars  of  this  kind  which  relate  to  the 
fingle  foldiers  may  be  diftinctly  told  him.  Where 
that  great  author,  Dr.  Goodwin,  whofe  opinions  I 
cite  at  the  end  of  this  book,  indulges  his  imagination 
to  fly  beyond  thefe  limits,  I  am  conftrained  to  leave 
him,  left  I  (hould  feem  to  deify  a  creature,  and  in- 
trench upon  the  fupreme  majefty  of  God. 

Anfiv.  II.     To  make  it  appear  that  our  blefTed 
Lord  in  his  human  nature  may  poffibly  be  capable 
of  knowing  all  the  moft  confidcrable  affairs  and  cir- 
cumftances  of  mankind,  let  us  confider  how  far  the 
mere  native  capacities  of  a  human  fpirit  may  extend. 
We  muft  not  judge  of  the  innate  powers  and  natu- 
ral capacities  of  the  foul  of  the  Meffiah,  by  the  fcanty 
meafures  of  our  own  fouls  and  their  native  powers. 
The  foul  of  Chrift  may  be  reaionably  fuppofed  in  its 
own  nature  to  tranfcend  the  powers  of  all  other  fouls 
as  far  as  an  angel  exceeds  an  idiot,  and  yet  be  but  a 
human  foul  ftill ;  for  gracilis  non  mutant  fpeciein,  dif- 
ferent degrees  do  not  change  the  kind  or  nature. 
When  we  narrow  and  limit  our  conceptions  of  the 
extenfive  powers  of  the  foul  of  Jefus,  and  bring  them 
down  too  near  to  our  own,  it  is  bccaufe  we  have  too 
high  a  conceit  of  ourfelves,  and  too  low  an  idea  of 
the  great  and  glorious  God.    We  are  ready  to  fancy 
the  difference  between  God  and  ourfelves  fo  fmall, 
as  that  a  mind  fo  vaftly  fupcrior  to  our  own  as  I 
have  defcribcd,  muft  be  raifed  immediately  to  God- 
head :  whereas  by  the  view  of  the  powers  of  angels 
(which  I  have  hinted  before)  it  is  poffible  there  may 
be  endowments  and  excellencies  equal  to  all  the  mil- 
lions of  men  on  earth  united  in  one  fpirit,  which 
may  be  yet  but  a  created  being,  and  infinitely  inferi- 
or 


Sect.  III.  of  Chrijl  glorified.  131 

or  to  the  great  God.  And  furely  if  there  be  fuch  a 
fpirit  of  fuch  extenfive  excellencies  and  endowments, 
it  is  divinely  proper  that  this  fpirit  fliould  be  the 
foul  of  Jefus,  who  is  fo  intimately  united  to  God, 
and  who  in  all  things  muft  have  the  pre-eminence,. 
Col.  i.   18. 

But  let  us  proceed  in  this  argument  to  raife  our 
inquiries  how  great  and  glorious  a  creature  may  be 
formed  by  the  Almighty  Creator. 

If  1  might  venture  to  fpeak  here  in  the  language 
of  philofophy,  it  is  exceedingly  hard  for  us  to  deter- 
mine what  is  the  maximum  or  minimum^  the  greateft 
or  the  leaft  thing  in  nature.  That  matter  is  infi- 
nitely divifible,  is  a  doftrine  now  univerfally  received 
and  maintained  without  controverfy.  Now  if  we 
cannot  limit  the  poffible  fmallnefs  of  corporeal  be- 
ings, how  can  we  limit  the  poffible  greatnefs  of 
them  ?  Even  in  the  animal  world,  there  are  creatures 
whole  particular  limbs  efcape  the  niceft  microfcope, 
and  are  perhaps  a  thoufand  times  lefs  than  the  fmall- 
eft  vifible  grain  of  fand.  What  amazing  difference 
is  betwixt  the  bulk  of  thefe  diminutive  animals 
and  the  bulk  of  an  elephant  or  a  whale  ?  And  yet 
the  Almighty  Creator  may  form  animals  as  much  fu- 
perior  in  bulk  to  a  whale  or  an  elephant,  as  thefe 
huge  creatures  exceed  thofe  invifible  mites,  when  he 
had  formed  a  world  of  air,  earth  and  water  fit  for 
them.  And  v^hy  may  not  the  fame  God  perform 
the  fame  wonders  in  the  world  of  fpirits  ?  Can  he 
not  form  a  fpirit  of  fuch  extenfive  capacities  as  may 
be  equal  to  a  million  of  common  human  fouls  ? 

Let  us  think  again,  what  ftrangc  difference  there 
is  between  the  life  and  adlivity  of  an  eagle  and  an 
oyfter,  or  between  a  grey  hound  and  a  fnail,  and  yet 
both  are  animals.  May  not  therefore  the  foul  of 
our  Lord  Jefus  Chrift  exceed  common  fouls,  both 
in  the  a<5livity  and  extent  of  its  powers,  as  much  as 
"  I  2  the 


133  Thi  extenfive  Powers  Disc.  tt. 

the  mofl:  fprlghtly  animal  exceeds  the  dulled:  and 
mod  ftupid  ?  As  tar  as  fun-beams  exceed  fmoak  and 
afhes,  or  as  far  as  the  iun  exceeds  cur  common  fires  ? 
*  For  in  all  things  he  muft  have  the  pre-eminence.* 

A-rain — Cannot  the  Maker  of  all  things  create  a 
new  world  of  material  beings,  vaftly  fuperior  both 
in  bulk  and  in  powers,  to  this  our  earth,  and  the 
inhabitants  of  it?  Cannot  an  architeft  build  a  roy- 
al palace  larger  and  more  exquifiteiy  adorned  than 
his  own  little  model  of  it  ?  May  he  not  form  the 
model  at  the  proportion  of  an  inch  to  a  thoufand 
yards  ?  And  why  may  not  the  Creator  of  all  things 
as  much  exceed  our  ullial  ideas  alio  in  forming  a 
fpirit  of  moft  extenfive  and  furprifing  capacities 
above  all  other  fpirits  ?  It  is  too  affuming  for  us  to 
mcafure  all  poilibilities  by  our  common  conceptions. 

But  even  our  common  conceptions  will  furnifii  us 
with  fomc  examples  fit  to  perfuade  us  of  the  vafi: 
and  extenfive  power  of  a  creature.  Could  we  ever 
think  of  the  pupil  of  the  eye,  that  it  fhould  take  in 
a  whole  hemifphere  of  ftars,  each  of  which  is  bigger 
than  the  globe  of  our  earth,  if  every  night's  expe- 
rience did  not  convince  us  ?  And  yet  this  hemi- 
fphere, fo  vafl  as  it  is,  is  but  one  of  the  ideas  of  a 
human  foul.  There  are  millions  of  ideas  befides 
this,  which  are  contained  in  the  foul  or  memory  of 
every  modern  pliilofophcr  or  ingenious  mechanic. 
Many  of  thefe  our  ideas  indeed  are  fuccelTive  :  but 
why  may  not  the  foul  of  Chrifb  be  large  enough  in 
its  native  capacity  to  take  in  all  at  once  what  we 
take  in  by  long  fuccefiTion,  or  what  would  coft  us  the 
labour  of  ages  ? 

Such  a  glorious  created  mind  as  belongs  to  the 
Son  of  God  may  be  capable,  for  aught  we  know,  of 
extending  its  thoughts  backward  to  far  didant  ages, 
and  forward  bevond  time,  and  reach  far  into  eterni- 
ty, and  may  alfo  fprcad  them  abroad  over  the  na- 
tions! 


Sect.  III.  of  Chnjl  glorified,  133 

tions  of  mankind,  and  all  their  chief  aoalrs,  and  yet 
not  be  perfedly  infinite  as  the  knowledge  of  God 
is  ;*  for  divine  knowledge  extends  at  once  infinitely 
backward  and  forward  through  both  eternities,  and 
reaches  to  all  pofilbles,  as  well  as  to  what  is  aftualiy 
pafi;  and  future. 

How  do  we  know  to  what  prodigious  diftances  the 
prefence,  the  confcioufnefs  and  agency  of  the  human 
foul  of  Chriil:  may  be  extended  ?  We  are  fure  this 
prefence  is  not  infinite  ;  but  while  we  fuppofe  it  to 
be  (hort  of  infinity,  what  other  limits  can  our  reafon 
certainly  fet  to  it  ?  How  can  we  tell  to  what  amaz- 
ing lengths,  and  heights,  and  breadths,  and  depths, 
his  immediate  confcioufnefs  and  immediate  agency 
may  reach  ?  Wherefoever  fcripture  fets  limits  to  a 
creature's  power,  let  our  inquiring  thoughts  fcop 
iliort  and  lie  filent ;  but  reafon  hardly  knows  where 
to  flop,  while  it  inquires  how  powerful  and  knowing 
a  creature  the  great  God  can  make. 

Surely  we  have  good  reafon  to  believe  that  the 
foul  of  Chrifl  is  the  mofl  intelligent,  the  moft  know- 
m<y  and  active  creature  that  God  ever  made,  and  has 
the  largefc  native  powers  :  and  it  feems  divmely 
agreeable  that  it  fhould  be  fo,  that  he  might  be  a 
proper  fubjedt  for  the  favour  of  a  perfonal  union 
with  the  Godhead,  and  a  proper  medium  whereby 
the  great  God  might  with  honour  tranfad:  his  af- 
fairs among  the  children  of  men,  as  well  as  that  he 
might  be  a  moft  fuitable  mirror  to  difplay  the  divine 

perfedions 

*  It  is  worthy  of  our  obfervation  how  Mr.  Locke,  in  the  EfTay 
on  the  Human  Underfianding,  defcribes  the  largenefs  of  a  man  or 
an  angel's  memory,  Book  II.  Chap.  lo.  Sedl.  9.  "  It  is  reported 
of  that  prodigy  of  parts,  monfieur  Pafcal,  that  till  the  decay  of 
his  health  had  impaired  his  memory,  he  forgot  nothing  of  what  he 
had  done,  read  or  thought  in  any  part  of  his  rational  age.  The 
feveral  degrees  of  angels  may  probably  have  larger  views,  and  feme 
of  them  be  endowed  with  capacities  able  to  retain  together,  and 
conftantly  fet  before  them' as  in  one  picture  all  tlieir  pafl  knov/lcdgc 
^t  once." 


134  The  extenftve  Powers  Disc.  II. 

perfections  in  their  faired  and  flrongeft  light.  Sure- 
ly there  is  no  created  nature  which  in  itfelf  comes 
nearer  to  the  perfections  of  God,  than  the  Man 
Chrift  Jcfus.  No  creature  is  a  fairer  image  of  God 
than  the  foul  of  Chrift  is,  and  thereby  it  becomes 
the  fitted  inftrumcnt  for  an  indwelling  God  to  ad 
by,  and  yet  it  is  infinitely  inferior  to  Godhead. 

Anfiu.  III.  But  if  the  native  powers  of  the  foul 
of  Chrift  in  its  firft  formation,  or  during  its  abode 
on  earth  in  a  humbled  eftate,  were  not  fufficient  for 
thefe  purpofes  of  government  and  judgment,  yet 
may  they  not  be  fufficient  in  its  prefent  glorified 
ftate  }  The  powers  of  a  foul  confined  in  flefii  and 
blood  may  be  but  of  narrow  extent,  in  comparifon 
of  thofe  extenfive  powers  which  are  afcribed  to  the 
Man  Jefus  Chrift  now  in  heaven. 

Who  knows  what  amazing  enlargement  may  at- 
tend all  the  natural  powers  of  man,  when  advanced 
to  a  ftate  of  glory  ?  Perhaps  a  common  fpirit  releafed 
from  flelh  and  blood,  and  exalted  to  a  glorified  ftate, 
may  extend  its  powers  a  thoufand  times  farther  than 
the  greateft   fpirit  dwelling  in  flefh  can  do. 

And  we  may  fuppofe  alio,  that  when  this  fpirit  is 
again  united  to  a  glorified  body,  its  own  powers  of 
activity,  knowledge  and  influence,  may  be  yet  far- 
ther enlarged  abundantly,  rather  than  confined,  by 
having  fuch  a  glorious  inftrument  to  afiift  its  opera- 
tions. So  a  loadilone  naked  will  draw  iron  ;  but 
when  it  is  armed  with  lieel,  it  will  draw  a  hundred 
times  as  much  as  before,  though  the  fteel  without  the 
loadftone  has  no  attractive  power  at  all.  Thus  may 
the  foul  be  in  a  glorified  body  :  and  indeed  v^ere  it 
not  fo  in  fome  mealiire,  why  fhould  the  glorified 
fpirits  of  the  faints  ever  be  united  to  bodies  again  .'' 
The  refurrecliion  of  the  body  would  be  no  blelling, 
if  it  did  not  add  fome  new  powers  and  advantages 
to  the  Hiints  bevond  thole  of  a  feparate  fpirit. 

Our 


Sect.  III.  of  Chriji  glorified.  135 

Our  Saviour,  who  once  dwelt  in  flefli  and  blood, 
is  now  in  a  glorified  (late,  united  to  the  mod  per- 
fect glorified  body  ;  and  what  vafl  additions  may 
be  made  to  his  knowledge  and  power,  beyond  what 
he  enjoyed  in  the  days  of  his  humiliation  and  con- 
finement to  a  mortal  body,  it  is  hard  for  us  to  de- 
termine. When  fuch  a  capacious  foul  is  united 
to  a  glorified  body,  the  extent  of  its  native  powers 
may  receive  an  additional  increafe  beyond  what 
common  fouls  even  in  glory  can  ever  arrive  at, 
as  much  as  its  native  excellencies  are  fuperior  to 
theirs. 

The  very  extent  of  the  power  and  prefence  of  a 
glorified  body  itielf  may  be  prodigioufly  large  in 
comparifon  of  our  bodies  of  flefh  and  blood.  A 
drop  of  oil  may  be  contained  in  a  pepper-corn,  and 
not  extend  its  influence  beyond  it ;  but  place  this 
drop  on  a  burning  lamp,  and  the  blaze  will  diffafe 
its  particles  of  light,  when  it  is  thus  kindled,  perhaps 
to  two  miles  diftance,  in  a  dark  night  ;  thence 
it  is  evident,  that  thele  diffufive  particles  of  oil  will 
fill  a  fphere  of  four  miles  diameter  ;  a  mofl  amaz- 
ing enlargement  of  a  fingle  drop  !  And  why  may 
not  a  glorified  body,  efpecially  vv^hen  it  fhall  be 
called  a  fpiritual  body,  as  much  exceed  flefh  and 
blood  in  its  extent  of  powers,  as  a  drop  of  oil  kindled 
into  a  blaze  ftretches  itfelf  beyond  its  own  firfl  or 
native  dimenfions  ? 

Behold  our  blefled  Lord  after  his  refurrection, 
even  before  he  was  fully  glorified,  comes  with  his 
body  twice  '  into  the  midft  of  his  difciples  when  the 
doors  were  fhut',*  John  xx.  19,  26.  Much  lefs 
doth  a  glorified  body  feem  to  be  fubject  to  the  pref- 

ent 

*  Whatever  other  fenfes  may  be  put  upon  thefe  words,  I  thuik 
our  common  tranflation  is  the  mod:  natural,  and  the  text  feenis  to 
intimate  that  it  was  miraculous. 


1^6  The  es:tenjive  Powers  Disc.  II. 

ent    laws,   rcflraints    and    limitations  of  corporeal 
motions. 

What  if  we  fhould  fuppofe  a  glorified  foul  to 
have  as  fovereign  and  immediate  an  influence  over 
every  atom  of  its  own  glorified  body,  as  our  fouls 
at  prel'ent  have  over  our  grolTcr  limbs  ?  What  if  it 
be  made  capable  of  ranging  and  difpofing  the  atoms, 
of  which  the  body  is  compounded,  in  what  form 
it  pleafe,  and  of  difFufing  them  through  unknown 
fpaces  ?  Hence  would  evidently  reiult  tlie  fafety 
and  immortality  of  that  body,  and  its  prodigious 
vital  adivity  on  the  material  world.  Our  lafety 
would  be  in  our  own  power,  and  our  influence  amaz- 
ing, if  we  could  place  every  atom  of  our  bodies  in 
what  form  v/e  choole,  and  keep  it  there  during  our 
pleafurc. 

And  then  furely  we  may  allow  the  glorified  foul 
of  our  blefled  Saviour  to  be  poffeired  of  this  power 
in  a  much  iuperior  degree,  and  to  exert  it  in  a  far 
more  tranfcendent  manner  ;  and  thus  the  Sun  of 
righteoufnefs,  even  in  the  operations  of  his  human 
nature,  may  anfwer  all  the  parallels  of  this  illuflrious 
metaphor. 

The  natural  powers  of  his  body,  thus  fublimated 
and  refined,  may  move,  for  aught  we  know,  as  fwift 
as  fun-beams,  which  may  travel  many  thoulands  of 
miles  in  a  minute  :  it  may  diffu'c  its  influences 
like  the  iun  in  a  moft  extenfive  fphers  :  it  may 
reach  our  world  and  t!ie  moon  almoft  in  the  fam.e 
moment,  and  penetrate  earth  to  the  centre. 

If  the  face  of  our  Lord  on  the  mount  of  transfig- 
uration  did  '  Oiine  as  the  fun,  and  his  raiment  was 
white  as  the  light,'  Matth.xvii.  2.  if  his  body  appear- 
ing to  St.  Paul  was  drefied  in  fuch  *  a  light  from 
heaven  as  exceeded  the  bri-ihtne's  of  the  fun  at  mid- 
day,'  A<^s  xxvi.  13.  what  difiufive  and  difiant  in- 
fluences may  fiich  a  glorified  body  be  capable  of  on 

th(? 


Sect.  HI.  of  Chijl  glorified.  137 

the  elementary  world  of  air,  earth  and  water,  under 
the  command  of  fuch  a  glorified  Ibul  as  that  of  our 
Saviour. 

I  cannot  deny  myfelf  in  this  place  the  pleafure  of 
publilhing  to  the  world  a  very  beautiful  refemblance, 
the  firft  hints  and  notices  whereof  I  received  formerly 
in  converfation  from  my  Rev.  and  v^^o^thy  friend  Mr. 
Robert  Bragge,  whereby  the  [)erlon  of  Chrift  as  God- 
Man  in  his  exalted  ftate  may  be  happily  reprefented. 
The  fun  in  the  heavens  is  the  moft  glorious  of  all  vif- 
ibie  bein2;s  :  his  foverei!J:n  inlluence  has  a  moft  afton- 
ilhing  extent  through  all  the  f)lanetary  globes,  and 
beftows  light  and  heat  upon  all  of  them.  It  is  the 
fun  that  gives  life  and  motion  to  all  the  infinite  vari- 
eties of  the  animal  world  in  the  earth,  air  and  v;ater  : 
it  dra-vs  out  the  vegetable  juices  from  the  earth,  and 
covers  the  furface  of  it  with  trees,  herbs  and  flowers  : 
it  is  the  fun  that  gives  beauty  and  colour  to  all  the 
millions  of  b')dies  round  the  globe,  and  by  its  pervad- 
ing power  perhaps  it  forms  minerals  and  metals  un- 
der the  earth.  Its  happy  effcfls  are  innumerable  ; 
they  reach  certainly  to  every  thing  that  has  life  and 
motion,  or  that  gives  life,  fupport  or  pleafure  to 
mankind. 

Now  fuppofe  God  fhouid  create  a  moft  illuftrious 
fpirit  and  unite  it  to  the  body  of  the  fun,  as  a  human 
foul  is  united  to  a  human  body  :  fuppofe  this  fpirit 
had  a  perceptive  power,  capacious  enough  to  become 
confcious  of  every  fun-beam,  and  all  the  influences 
and  efFefts  of  this  vaft  fhining  globe,  both  in  its  light, 
heat  and  motion  even  to  the  remoteft  regions  :  and 
fuppofe  at  the  fame  time  it  was  able  bv  an  a£t  of  its 
will  to  fend  out  or  withhold  every  fun-beam  as  it  pleaf- 
ed,  and  thereby  to  give  light  and  darkneis,  life  and 
death  in  a  fovereign  manner  to  all  the  animal  inhabit- 
ants of  this  our  earth,  or  even  of  all  the  planetary 
worlds.     Such  may  be  the  glorified  human  foul  of 

our 


138  The  extenjive  Powers  Disc.  II, 

our  bleffed  Redeemer  united  to  his  glorified  body ; 
and  perhaps  his  knowledge  and  his  power  may  be  as 
extenfive  as  this  fimilitude  reprefents  j  efpecially 
when  we  conhder  this  foul  and  body  as  perfonally 
united  to  the  divine  nature,  and  as  one  with  God. 

Now  this  noble  thought  may  be  fupported  by  fuch 
confiderations  as  thefe. 

.  As  our  fouls  are  confcious  of  the  light,  fhape,  mo- 
tions, &c.  of  fuch  diftant  bodies  as  the  planet  Saturn 
or  the  fixed  flars,  becaufe  our  eves  receive  rays  from 
thence  ;  fo  may  not  a  human  foul  united  to  a  body- 
as  eafily  be  fuppofed  to  have  a  confcioufnefs  of  any 
thing  wherefoever  it  can  fend  out  rays  or  emit  ei- 
ther floods  or  atoms  from  its  own  body  ?  May  not 
the  fun,  for  inflance,  if  a  foul  were  united  to  it,  be- 
come thereby  fo  glorious  a  complex  being,  as  to  fend 
out  every  ray  v/ith  knowledge,  and  have  a  confcioul- 
nefs  of  every  thing  wherefoever  it  fends  its  diredt  or 
refieded  rays  ?  And  may  not  the  human  foul  of  our 
Lord  Jefus  Chrift  have  a  confcioufnefs  of  every  thing 
wherefoever  it  can  fend  dired:  or  reflected  rays  trorn 
his  own  (hining  and  glorified  body  .'' 

To  add  yet  to  the  wonder,  we  may  fuppofe,  that 
thefe  rays  may  be  fubtle  as  magnetic  beams  which 
penetrate  brafs  and  flone  as  cafily  as  light  doth  glafs  j 
and  at  the  fame  time  they  may  be  fwift  as  light,  which 
reaches  the  moft  amazin:j;  diflance  of  feveral  millions 
of  miles  in  a  minute.  By  this  means,  fmce  the  light 
of  the  fun  pervades  all  fecret  chambers  in  our  hemil- 
phere  at  once,  and  fills  all  places  with  direct  and  re- 
flected beams,  if  confcioutncfs  belonged  to  all  thofe 
beams,  what  a  fort  of  omnifcient  being  would  the 
fun  be  ?  I  mean  omnifcient  in  its  own  fphere.  And 
why  may  not  the  human  foul  and  body  of  our 
glorified  Saviour  be  thus  furniflied  with  fuch  an 
amazing  extent  of  knowledge  and  power,  and  yet  not 
be  truly  infinite  ? 

Let 


Sect.  III.  of  Chnji  glorified.  13^ 

Let  us  dwell  a  little  longer  upon  thefe  delightful 
contemplations. 

If  a  foul  had  but  a  full  knowledge  and  command 
of  all  the  atoms  of  one  folid  foot  of  matter,  (which 
according  to  modern  philofophy  is  infinitely  divifi- 
ble)  what  ftrange  and  aftonifhing  influences  would 
it  have  over  this  world  of  ours  ?  VV^hat  confufions 
might  it  raife  in  diftant  nations,  fending  peftilential 
fleams  into  a  thoufand  bodies,  and  deflroying  armies 
at  once  ?  And  it  might  fcatter  benign  or  healing  and 
vital  influences  to  as  large  a  circumference.  If  our 
bleffed  Lord  in  the  days  of  his  humiliation  could 
fend  virtue  out  of  him  to  heal  a  poor  difeafed  woman 
who  touched  the  hem  of  his  garment  with  a  finger, 
who  knows  what  heahng  atoms  or  what  killing  influ- 
ences he  may  fend  from  his  dwelling  in  glory  to  the 
remotefl  diftances  of  our  world,  to  execute  his  Fa- 
ther's counfels  of  judgment  or  mercy  ?  It  is  not  im- 
poffible,  fo  far  as  I  can  judge,  that  the  foul  of  Chrift 
in  its  glorified  flate  may  have  as  much  command 
over  our  heavens  and  our  earth,  and  all  things  con- 
tained in  them,  as  our  fouls  in  the  prefent  ftate  have 
over  our  own  limbs  and  muicles  to  move  them  at 
plea  fu  re. 

Let  us  remember  that  it  is  now  found  out  and 
agreed  in  the  new  philofophy  of  Sir  Ifaac  Newton, 
that  the  diftances  are  prodigious  to  which  the  pow- 
erful influence  of  the  fun  reaches  in  the  centre  of 
our  planetary  fyflem.  It  is  the  fun  who  holds  and 
reftrains  all  the  planets  in  their  feveral  orbits,  and 
keeps  in  thofe  vafl  bodies  of  Jupiter  and  Saturn  in 
their  conftant  revolutions ;  one  at  the  diitance  of 
four  hundred  and  twenty-four  millions,  and  the  oth- 
er at  the  diftance  of  leven  hundred  and  feventy-fev- 
en  millions  of  miles  ,  befides  all  the  other  influ- 
ences it  has  upon  every  thing  that  may  live  and 
grow  in  thofe  planetary  worlds. 

It 


140  The  extenfive   "Powers  Disc.  11, 

It  is  the  fun  who  reduces  the  long  wanderings  of 
the  comets  back  again  near  to  himfelf  from  dif- 
tanccs  more  immenfely  great  than  thofe  of  Saturn 
and  Jupiter  :  and  why  may  not  the  human  nature 
of  our  Lord  Jclus  Chrift,  both  in  foul  and  body, 
have  a  dominion  given  him  by  the  Father,  larger 
than  the  fun  in  the  firmament  ?  Why  may  not  the 
Son  of  God  be  endued  with  an  immediate  confciouf- 
ncfs  and  agency  to  a  far  greater  diftance  ? 

Thus  if  we  conceive  of  the  human  foul  of  Chrifb, 
cither  in  the  amazing  extent  of  its  own  native  pow- 
ers, or  in  the  additional  acquirements  of  a  glorified 
flate,  we  fee  reafon  to  believe  that  its  capaciiies  are 
far  above  our  old  ufual  conceptions,  and  may  be 
raifed  and  exalted  to  a  degree  of  knowledge,  power 
ar.d  glory  fuitable  and  equal  to  his  operations  and 
oiTices,  fo  far  as  they  are  attilbuted  to  his  human 
nature  in  the  v,^ord  of  God  ?  But  I  proceed  further. 

An[-j).  IV.  But  if  the  foul  of  Chrid,  confidered 
fin?ly  in  its  native  powers,  or  even  in  its  glorified 
ftate,  be  not  capable  of  fuch  cxtenlive  knowledge 
and  influence,  yet,  confidered  in  its  perfonal  union 
with  the  divine  nature,  its  capacities  mud  be  en- 
larged to  an  unknown  degree.  And  though  it  is 
-my  judgment,  tb.at,  abftradecl  from  his  Godhead, 
the  Man  Jefus  could  not  fulfil  and  fuftain  all  the 
facred  offices  and  honours  of  the  Pv'Ieffiah,  yet  unit- 
ed to  his  divine  nature,  he  may  thereby  become  in 
a  fenfe  fulTicient  for  all  this  work. 

It  may  be  inquired  here,  what  influence  this  per- 
fonal union  with  the  Godhead  can  have  upon  a  hu- 
man mind,  to  enlarge  its  knowledge  and  intellcdual 
faculties  and  its  effedive  powers  to  fo  amazing  an 
extent  ? 

In  anfvvcr  to  this,  we  mufb  ail  confefs  that  the 
doftrine  of  unions  is  one  of  the  moft  unknown  and 
unfearcliable  difficulties  in  natural  philofophy.     Our 

underfundin^-i 


SttT.  III.  tf  Chijl  giortJie<^..  141 

underRandlngs  are  nonpluffjd  when  we  confider  but. 
the  union  of  the  parts  of  matter  among  themfelves, 
which  no  philofophy  has  ever  jet  fully  accounted 
for ;  and  much  more  are  we  puzzled  when  we  think: 
of  the  union  of  matter  and  mind  in  every  human 
perfon,  and  the  ftrange  amazing  influences  which 
the  one  hath  upon  the  other  by  means  of  this  union. 
But  when  we  attempt  to  conceive  of  the  moft  inti- 
mate union,  into  which  the  great  and  blefled  God 
may  aflume  a  creature,  and  join  it  to  himfelf,  our 
thoughts  are  loft  and  overwhelmed  with  this  myfte- 
ry  :  and  that,  not  only  as  to  the  mode  or  manner 
of  it,  which  is  unfearchable,  but  as  to  the  extent  of 
the  influences  and  cifeds  of  it,  which  are  aftonifhing, 
and  beyond  all  our  prefent  powers  to  determine. 

Yet  fince  we  are  thus  far  afllired  by  the  word  of 
God  that  there  is  a  glorious  union  between  the  Man 
Chrifl:,  and  the  divine  nature,  we  may  attempt  to 
explain  our  beft  conceptions  about  the  effe6ts  of  it, 
firft  as  to  the  communications  of  knowledge,  and 
then  of  efledlive  power. 

I.  As  to  the  communication  of  knowledge  to  the 
Man  Chrift  by  his  union  with  the  Deity.  We  may 
try  to  illuftrate  this  matter  by  the  fimilitude  of  the 
union  of  a  human  foul  to  a  body.  Suppofe  a  learned 
philofopher  be  alfo  a  fkilful  divtne,  and  a  great  lin- 
guift  J  wc  may  reafonably  conclude  that  there  are 
fome  millions  of  words  and  phrafes  (if  taken  tog-cth- 
er  with  all  the  various  fenfes  of  them)  which  are  de- 
pofited  in  his  brain  as  in  a  repofitory,  by  means  of 
fome  corre(t3ondent  traces  or  fignatures ;  we  may 
fuppofe  alfo  millions  of  ideas  of  things,  human  and 
divine,  treafured  up  in  various  traces  or  flgnatures  in 
tlie  fame  brain  :  nay,  each  organ  of  fenfe  may  im- 
prcfs  on  the  brain  millions  of  traces  belonging  to  the 
particular  ohjefts  of  that  fenfe  ;  efpccially  the  two 
ienies  of  difcipline,  the  eye  and  the  ear  :  the  pictures, 

the 


142  The  extenfive  "Powers  Disc.  11. 

the  images,  the  colours,  and  the  founds  that  are  re- 
ferved  in  this  repodtory  of  the  brain,  by  fome  cor- 
refpondcnt  imj^reffions  or  traces  are  little  lefs  than 
infinite  :   now  the  human  foul  of  the  philofopher, 
by  being  united  to  this  brain,  this  well-furnilhed  re- 
pofitory,  knows  all  thefe  names,  words,   founds,  im- 
ages, lines,  figures,  colours,  notions  and  fenfations. 
It  receives  all  thefe  ideas,  and  is,  as  it  were,  miftrefs 
of  them  all.     The  very  opening  of  the  eye  imprefles 
thoufands  of  ideas  at  once  upon  fuch  a  foul  united 
to  a  human  brain  ;  and  what  unknown  millions  of 
ideas  may  be  impreffed  on  it  or  conveyed  to  it  in  fuc- 
ceffive  feafons,  whcnfocvcr   flie   ftands    in    need  of 
them,  and  that  by  the  means  of  this  union  to  the 
brain,  is  beyond  our  capacity  to  think  or  number. 
Let  us  nou'  conceive  the  divine  mind  or  wifdom  as 
a  repofuory  ftored  with  infinite  ideas  of  things  pad, 
prefcnt  and  future  ;  fuppofe  a  created  fpirit  of  mod 
extenfive  capacity  intimately  united  to  this  divine 
mind  or  wifdom  ;  may  it  not  by  this  means,  by  di- 
vine appointment  become  capable  of  receiving  fo 
many  of  thofe  ideas,  and  fo  much  knowledge,  as  are 
ncceffary  for  tlie  government  and  the  judgment  of 
all  nations  ?   And  this  may  be  done  two  ways,  viz.  ei- 
ther by  the  immediate  application    of  itfelf  (as    it 
were  by  inquiry)  to  the  divine  mind,  to  which  it  is 
thus  united,  or  by  the  immediate  aftual  influences 
and  impreffions  which  the  divine  mind  may  make 
of  thefe  ideas  on  the  human  foul,  as  faft  as  ever  it 
can  ftand  in  need  of  them  for  thefe  glorious  pur- 
pofes. 

Since  a  human  brain,  wliich  is  mere  matter,  and 
which  contains  only  fome  ftrokes  and  traces  and 
corporeal  llgnatures  of  ideas,  can  convey  to  a  human 
foul  united  to  it,  many  millions  of  ideas,  as  faft  as  it 
needs  them  for  any  purpolcs  of  human  life  ;  how 
much  more  may  the  infinite  God,  or  divine  mind 

or 


Sect.  Hi.  of  Chrijt  glorified.  143 

or  wifdom,  which  hath  aftiially  all  real  and  poffible 
ideas  in  it,  in  the  moft  perfeft  manner,  communi- 
cate to  a  human  foul  united  to  this  divine  wifdom, 
a  far  greater  number  of  ideas  than  a  human  brain 
can  receive  ;  even  as  many  as  the  affairs  of  govern- 
ing and  judging  this  world  may  require. 

This  may  be  reprefented  and  illuftrated  b)""  anoth- 
er fimilitude  thus  :  fuppofe  there  were  a  fpherical 
looking-glafs  or  mirror  vaft  as  this  earth  is,  on 
which  millions  of  corporeal  objeds  appeared  in  min- 
iature on  all  fides  of  it  impreft  or  reprefented  there, 
by  a  thoufand  planetary  and  (larry  worlds  furround- 
ing  this  vaft  mirror  ;  fuppofe  a  capacious  human 
fpirit  united  to  this  mirror,  as  the  foul  is  to  the 
body  ;  what  an  unknown  multitude  of  ideas  would 
this  mirror  convey  to  that  human  fpirit  in  fucceffive 
feafons  ?  Or  perhaps  this  fpirit  might  receive  all  thefe 
ideas  at  once,  and  be  confcious  of  the  millions  of 
things  reprefented  all  round  the  mirror.  This  mir- 
ror may  reprefent  the  Deity  :  the  human  fpirit  tak- 
ing in  thefe  ideas  fuccellively,  or  confcious  of  them 
all  at  once,  may  reprefent  to  us  the  foul  of  Chrift 
receiving  (either  in  a  fimultaneous  view,  or  in  a  fuc- 
ceffive way)  unknown  myriads  of  ideas  by  its  union 
to  Godhead  :  though  it  muft  be  owned  it  can  never 
receive  all  the  ideas  which  are  in  the  divine  mind. 

II.  Having  iliewn  how  the  human  foul  of  Chrift, 
by  virtue  of  its  union  v»'ith  the  divine  nature,  may 
be  furnifhed  with  moft  amazing  treafures  of  knowl- 
edge, I  proceed  now  to  inquire  how  the  human  na- 
ture of  Chrift  may  attain  vaft  effedive' powers,  and 
may  be  faid  to  have  a  hand  in  bringing  about  the 
various  revolutions  of  Providence,  in  mana^ins;  the 
amurs  of  the  government  of  the  world,  and  forming 
the  wondrous  fcenes  of  the  laft  judgment ;  and  all 
this  by  virtue  of  its  union  to  the  divine  nature. 

Let 


J 44  ^'■^^  extenjlve  Powsrs  Disc.  If. 

Let  us  confider  what  power  or  influence  the  hu- 
man nature  of  Chrift  mig,ht  have  upon  the  miracles 
whicii  he  wrought  whilft  he  was  h.ere  on  earth.  It 
is  very  probable  and  almoft  certain,  that  it  was  a 
part  oi  his  divine  furniture  and  commiffion  from  the 
Father,  that  vvhenfoever  he  prayed  for,  and  then  will- 
ed or  commanded  any  fuch  fort  of  fupernatural 
event,  the  cfil-cl  fliould  as  certainly  follow  his  voli- 
tion or  his  command  a?  the  human  limbs  obey  the 
loul  when  it  wills  to  move  them.  The  cafe  of  the 
apoflles  was  not  lb ;  they  had  not  a  perfonal  union 
with  indwelling  Godhead  ;  they  tried  once,  or  per- 
haps oftener,  to  caft  out  devils,  and  could  not  do  it. 
But  as  where  cur  foul  wills,  our  limbs  always  move  at 
its  command,  fo  whenfoever  Chriil  the  Man  willed 
to  work  a  miracle,  the  fupernatural  effeds  followed, 
if  not  by  human,  yet  by  divine  agency.  Obferve 
this  in  a  few  inftances. 

When  he  cleanfed  th.e  leper,  Matth.  viii.  his  foul 
willed  that  leprofy  fhould  depart,  and  his  tongue 
pronounced  thefe  words,  '  J  will  ;  be  thou  clean  j* 
and  immediately  the  eff.^61  followed,  the  leper  was 
healed.  Whether  the  human  foul  of  Chriil  had  in 
that  day  fufficient  knowledge  and  power  given  it  to 
change  the  cralis  of  the  blood,  to  remove  the  tainted 
atoms  from  the  body  of  the  man,  and  to  place  all  the 
J;l)res  of  the  difealed  flelh  in  a  proper  and  healthy 
iorm,  this  may  be  matter  of  doubtful  inquiry  :  but 
if  the  divine  power  ui:iiied  to  the  manhood  made 
this  iovereign  and  healing  change,  and  was  pleafed 
to  make  ufe  of  the  intermediate  volition  of  the  hu- 
man will,  and  language  of  the  human  tongue  for 
this  purpofe,  llili  the  Man  Chriil  Jefus  has  his  (hare 
or  agency  in  this  work  ;  and  therefore  he  is  faid  to 
go  aijout  '  vvorking  wonders  and  healing  dilcafes,  for 
CJ-od  was  with  him.,*  Ads  x.  38. 

Again, 


Sect.  III.  of  Chriji  glorified.  145 

■  A"-ain,  in  the  midft  of  a  ftorm  when  he  bid  the 
winds  be  filent,  and  commanded  the  waves  to  be 
ftill,  it  is  probable  that  his  human  foul  and  body 
might  not  in  themfelves  at  that  time  have  direct 
and  proper  fufficient  influence  on  the  winds  and  the 
waves,  to  produce  fuch  a  miraculous  calm  and  fi- 
lence  ;  but  the  divine  nature  or  indwelling  God- 
head, by  its  infinite  power  fupprefTed  thefe  tumultu- 
ous elements  at  the  will  and  word  of  Chrift,  which 
rebuked  the  florm  :  and  fince  the  Man  Jefus  was 
made  the  intelligent  medium  or  inftrument  of  this 
command,  the  winds  and  the  feas  are  faid  to  pay 
obedience  to  him,  Mark  iv.  41.  *  What  manner 
of  man  is  this,  that  the  winds  and  feas  obey  him  ?' 

It  was  much  the  fame  thing  when  he  cafl  out 
devils,  and  commanded  them  to  depart  from  the 
bodies  which  they  pofieiTed.  Whether  it  was  the 
terror  of  his  known  charafter  that  fell  upon  them 
and  frighted  them,  or  the  compullive  power  of  his 
deity  drove  them  out,  this  may  perhaps  be  doubted. 
But  fuppofe  the  demoniacs  were  difpofTefTed  by  di- 
vine agency,  yet  the  Man  Jefus  has  the  honour  of 
this  miracle,  as  being  the  confcious  inftrument  of 
his  Godhead  therein.  It  was  *  Jefus  of  Nazareth 
who  healed  thofe  who  were  opprefTed  of  the  devil, 
for  God  was  with  him,'  Afts  x.  38. 

Yet  we  fhould  take  notice,  that  in  the  days  of  his 
humiliation  on  earth  his  power  was  limited  ;  for  he 
had  not  the  knowledge  of  all  God's  counfels,  (he 
knew  not  the  day  of  judgment)  and  therefore  could 
not  govern  the  world  till  his  refurre(5lion  and  afcen- 
fion,  when  the  Father  '  delivered  all  things  into  his 
hands,'  Matth.  xxviii.  and  gave  him  the  book  of  his 
decrees,  Rev.  v.  We  may  obferve  alfo,  that  when 
he  raifed  Lazarus,  he  prayed  to  the  Father  for  that 
miracle,  John  xi.  41.  as  acknowledging  publickly 
a  particular  dependence  for  each  miraculous  opera- 
K  tion ; 


146  The  exlenfive  Powers  Disc.  11, 

tion  ;  '  I  know  that  thou  heareft  me  always,  and  I 
thank  thee  that  thou  hafl  now  heard  me.' 

But  perhaps  It  is  otherwife  in  his  glorified  (late. 
Imagine  our  Saviour  in  heaven  as  having  received 
full  and  abfolute  *  powers  over  all  things  in  heaven 
and  earth,'  Matth.  xxviii.  18.  fuppofe  him  now  re- 
fiding  in  the  upper  world,  and  by  his  own  moft  ex- 
tenfive  capacity  of  mind  and  by  the  indwelling  Dei- 
ty ;  fuppofe  him  conftantly  acquainted  with  the  va- 
rious counfels  of  God  for  the  government  of  the 
world  and  the  church,  as  particularly  as  he  was  ac- 
quainted with  each  fingle  occafion  of  working  a 
miracle  here  on  earth  ;  fuppofe  alfo  his  commiffion 
in  his  exalted  flate  to  be  fo  general  and  extenfive, 
and  that  according  to  every  emergency  he  gives  com- 
mands to  the  angels  or  devils,  to  the  earth,  air  and 
feas,  to  perform  fuch  peculiar  fervices  for  his  people, 
and  to  bring  diftrefs  upon  his  adverfaries ;  now  if  all 
the  infinite  variety  of  efFedts  prefently  appear  and 
anfwer  his  command,  (though  really  performed  by 
divine  power)  he  may  properly  be  faid  to  have  *  all 
power  in  heaven  and  in  earth  put  into  his  hands,* 
and  to  govern  all  things  in  the  upper  and  lower  re- 
gions ;  for  as  much  as  the  indwelling  Godhead  makes 
ufe  of  the  human  nature  as  its  glorious  and  confcious 
medium,  to  exert  its  fovereign  authority  and  divine 
power  ;  and  the  Man  Jefus,  confidered  in  union  with 
Godhead,  gives  forth  the  commands,  fees  them  all 
executed,  and  receives  the  honours  and  adorations  of 
faints  and  angels,  as  their  Governor  and  their  Judge. 

Thus  if  the  exalted  powers  of  the  Man  Jefus  in 
glory  are  not  conceived  to  be  fufficient  in  themfelves 
for  the  complete  execution  of  thofe  great  offices  to 
which  he  is  advanced,  yet  his  human  foul  being 
united  to  his  Godhead,  and  always  under  the  infalli- 
ble influence  of  divine  wifdom  and  counfel,  and  hav- 
ing fuch  a  moft  extenfive  acquaintance  with  the 

affairs 


Sect.  III.  of  Chrifi  glorified,  147 

affairs  of  the  upper  and  lower  worlds,  the  Man  Chrlft 
may  give  forth  all  the  commands  of  God  whereby 
the  world  is  governed,  '  and  every  knee  may  bow  to 
him,  and  every  tongue  confefs  that  Chrift  is  Lord 
to  the  glory  of  the  Father.' 

If  any  perfon  fhould  inquire  here.  May  not  any  of 
our  fouls  be  thus  afTumed  into  union  with  the  divine 
nature,  and  by  this  union  be  made  capable  of  the- 
fame  powers  and  dignities  ?  I  anfwer,  By  no  means  : 
for  though  the  capacity  of  our  fouls  may  be  largely 
extended  in  a  future  world,  yet  I  am  verily  perfuaded 
they  can  never  be  dilated  or  enlarged  to  the  amazing 
comprehenfion  which  the  foul  of  our  blefled  Saviour 
pofTefles.  Our  fouls  in  their  native  conftitution  are 
vaftly  inferior  to  his.  As  a  veffel  of  clay  can  never 
be  enlarged  by  all  the  art  of  man  to  fuch  a  prodig- 
ious capacity  as  a  veffel  of  gold,  fo  nor  the  foul  of  an 
ideot  to  contain  the  ideas  of  a  Milton  or  a  Newton  ; 
nor  any  other  created  fpirit  to  know  and  do  what 
the  blefled  foul  of  Jefus  knows  and  does. 

Perhaps  the  powers  of  any  other  human  foul  would 
be  diflblved  and  deflroyed  under  fuch  impreflions 
from  indweUing  Godhead  as  the  foul  of  Chrift  con- 
ftantly  receives,  and  by  which  he  is  fitted  for  his 
high  poft  of  mediation  and  government.  Were  it 
pofTible  that  the  Divine  Power  lliould  continually 
condefcend  to  effeft  whatfoever  a  common  human 
foul  willed,  yet  this  human  foul  perhaps  has  not  nat- 
ural powers  fufEciently  large  to  be  made  a  confcious 
inftrument  of  one  thoufandth  part  of  what  the  foul 
of  Jefus  knows  and  wills,  and  does  by  virtue  of  the 
indwelling  Godhead.  *  In  all  things  he  muft  have 
the  pre-eminence.'  Col.  i,  15 — 18. 

Upon  this  reprefentation  of  things,  the  various 

language  of  fcripture  appears  to  be  true,  and  is  made 

very  intelligible.     Chrift  fays,  '  he  can  do  nothing  of 

himfelf,  he  knew  not  the  day  of  judgment'  when  he 

K  2  '  was 


148  The  extenjive  Powers         Disc.  IL 

was  here  on  earth,  &c.  and  yet  he  is  fald  to  *  know 
the  hearts  of  men,'  and  to  '  know  all  things ;'  for  as 
fail:  as  the  Divine  Mind  united  to  him  was  pleafed  to 
communicate  all  thefe  ideas,  fo  faft  was  his  human 
jiature  capable  of  receiving  them.  *  The  Father,'  in 
rucccfhon  of  feafons,  '  fhews  the  Son  all  things  that 
himfelf  doth.'  John  v.  20.  But  God  had  fliewn 
him  but  fome  lelfer  things  comparatively  at  the  time 
when  Chrift  fpake  this  ;  for  at  that  time  he  aiTures 
the  Jews,  that  '  the  Father  would'  afterwards  *  fhew 
him  greater  works  than  thefe.'  Thus,  as  I  have 
fliewn  before,  the  union  of  the  human  nature  to  the 
divine  being  purely  arbitrary,  or  owing  to  the  will 
of  God,  the  feafons  and  meafures  of  divine  commu- 
nications made  to  the  Man  Jefus  muft  be  arbitrary 
aiib,  and  limited  or  enlarged  according  to  divine  will 
and  appointment. 

Upon  this  fame  reprefentation  of  things  alfo  it  miay 
be  juftly  faid  in  fcripture,  that  *  God  governs  the 
world,  God  only  knows  the  hearts  of  all  men,'  and 
'  God  himfelf  is  the  judge,'  and  yet  Chrill  is  the 
*  Searcher  ot  hearts,'  the  '  Judge  and  Lord  of  all ;' 
becaufe,  though  the  Man  Jefus  may  have  thefe  titles 
and  characters  attributed  to  him,  yet  it  is  not  merely 
the  man,  conlidered  abftraftedly  in  himfelf,  but  it  is 
the  Man  united  to  God,  it  is  the  perfon  of  God- 
Man  :  or  you  may  fay,  the  Divine  Nature,  or  the 
Godhead,  ading  in  and  by  the  Man  Jefus,  who  per- 
forms all  thefe  wonders,  and  which  makes  the  Man 
Jefus  the  confcious  and  intelligent  medium  of  thefe 
performances ;  and  thus  he  gives  him  the  honour  of 
being  the  agent. 

By  this  account  of  things,  there  is  a  fair  anfwcr 
given  to  the  objeftion  that  might  be  fi:arted  againlt 
the  fiift  part  of  this  ieflion,  viz.  If  the  human  foul 
of  Chrill,  which  is  but  a  creature,  may  have  fuch  a 
vail  z.nd  ailonilliing  extent  of  knowledge  and  power, 

doe^s 


Sect.  III.  of  Chriji  glorified.  i4f 

does  not  this  reprefent  a  creature  approaching  too 
near  to  the  idea  of  God  ?  Does  it  not  inveft  a  crea- 
ture with  fome  of  thofe  prerogatives  which  are  men- 
tioned in  fcripture,  as  pecuHar  and  appropriate  to 
Deity?  And  does  it  not  thus  take  away  the  diftinc- 
tioii  which  God  has  given  between  himielf  and  crea- 
tures, as  well  as  enervate  feveral  of  our  fcripture 
proofs  of  the  divinity  of  Chrift  ? 

I  have  indeed,  in  fome  meafure,  anticipated  this 
objeftion,  when  I  limited  the  knowledge  and  power 
of  the  Man  Jefus,  only  to  the  greater  and  more  im- 
portant concerns  and  adions  of  the  material  and  in- 
tellectual worlds,  on  which  the  government  of  them 
chiefly  depends  :  and  even  this  muft  be  a  very 
amazing  and  comprehenfive  knowledge  and  power 
for  a  creature  to  poffefs  :  but  every  thought,  and 
every  motion,  and  every  atom  of  the  worlds  ot  fouls 
and  bodies,  in  my  opinion,  is  known  only  to  God, 
and  belongs  to  infinite  Omnifcience  alone. 

But  to  remove  this  difficulty  and  danger  yet  far- 
ther, let  us  always  remember,  that  the  human  na- 
ture of  Chrifl,  which  is  fo  exalted,  has  the  fulnefs 
of  the  Godhead  dwelling  in  it,  or  is  perfonally  unit- 
ed to  Deity.  Thence  it  follows,  that  when  thefq 
mofb  extenfive  powers  are  attributed  to  the  Man 
Jefus,  it  is  by  virtue  of  the  divine  nature  that 
dwells  in  him  :  and  therefore  the  complex  perfon 
of  our  bleiTed  Saviour  may  juftly  have  thefe  divine 
prerogatives  of  knowledge  and  power  afcribed  to 
him.  They  being  given  us  to  diftinguifh  God 
from  a  mere  creature,  cannot  be  applied  by  the 
word  of  a  true  and  faithful  God  to  any  perfon  who 
has  not  Godhead  in  him  ;  and  upon  this  account 
they  continue  their  alTiftance  to  prove  the  deity  of 
Chrift. 

If  it  were  pofTiblc  that  a  mere  creature  could  be 
framed  by  divine  power,  capable  in  itfelf  of  fome 

of 


150  The  extenjive  Powers  Disc.  II. 

of  thofe  operations  which  God  has  alTumed  to  him- 
felf,  as  his  own  prerogatives,  fuch  as  governing  and 
judging  the  world,  Tearching  and  fan£tifying  the 
hearts  of  men,  &c.  yet  fince  the  great  God,  who 
is  jealo\is  of  his  own  honour,  has  appropriated  thefe 
charadlers  and  operations  to  himfelf  alone,  I  think 
we  may  be  affured  that  he  would  never  form  fuch 
a  creature  with  thefe  characters  and  operations  ;  or 
at  leaft,  that  he  would  never  difcover  fuch  a  creature 
to  us  in  our  world,  left  he  (hould  thereby  take  away 
the  inviolable  criteria  or  figns  which  himfelf  has 
given  us,  to  difiinguifli  between  God  and  creatures. 
Or  if  ever  fuch  a  glorious  creature  were  formed  and 
difcovered  to  us,  he  would  certainly  be  intimately 
and  perfonally  united  to  the  divine  nature  ;  and  thus 
have  proper  Godhead  dwelling  in  him,  left  we  fhould 
be  unavoidably  expofed  to  the  danger  of  taking  one 
for  God  who  was  not  God,  and  paying  divine  hon- 
ours to  a  perfon  who  was  not  divine. 

Perhaps  while  we  dwell  on  earth,  there  will  always 
remain  fome  difficulty  in  adjufting  feveral  particulars 
that  relate  to  the  perfon,  the  offices  and  the  opera- 
tions of  our  bleffed  Saviour  :  but  fince  we  firmly  be- 
lieve that  his  name  is  Immanuel,  or  God  with  us, 
and  that  God  and  Man  are  united  to  conltitute  tlie 
complete  perfon  of  our  Mediator  ;  fmce  we  are  per- 
fuaded  alfo  that  the  chara6ters  and  offices  which  he 
fultains,  require  powers  fuperior  to  all  created  na- 
ture for  the  moft  complete  execution  of  them  j 
therefore  wher^  we  are  at  a  lofs  in  determining  how 
far  the  divine  nature  operates,  and  how  far  the  hu- 
man, in  any  fpecial  part  of  his  offices,  we  may  refer 
it  in  general  to  the  complex  perfon  of  the  Mediator 
as  God-Man,  In  this  perfon  we  are  fure  there  are 
powers  abundantly  fufficient  to  anfwer  all  the  neccf- 
fities  and  demands  of  every  office  which  he  lultains. 
When  we  confidcr  him  as  God,  it  is  as  God  unite! 

to 


Sect.  III.  of  Chrift  glorified.  iji 

to  man  :  when  we  conlider  him  as  man,  it  is  as  man 
united  to  God  j  and  his  perfon  as  God-Man,  our 
Governor  and  our  Judge  demands  our  adoration, 
and  faith,  and  love. 

To  conclude  this  fubjedl,  though  fuch  fpecula- 
tlons  as  I  have  indulged  in  this  Difcourfe,  are  by  no 
means  neceflary  to  our  falvation,  yet  they  may  be 
applied  to  feveral  excellent  purpofes  in  Chriftianity. 
They  may  cure  us  of  our  old  narrow  conceptions  of 
the  glories  of  the  exalted  human  nature  of  Chrifb, 
and  raife  in  us  nobler  ideas  of  that  illuftrious  perfon, 
whom  God  the  Father  hath  advanced  to  fo  fublime 
a  degree  of  power  and  majefty  at  his  own  right  hand, 

Thefe  ipeculations  may  give  "us  a  much  higher 
efleem  of  our  blefled  Saviour,  and  a  more  affedting 
fenfe  of  his  forrows  and  fufFsrings  in  the  value  and 
dignity  of  them,  when  we  obferve  how  glorious  a 
perfon  he  is  in  himfelf,  and  what  a  rich  and  furprif- 
ing  recompenfe  God  the  Father  has  made  him  upon 
this  account.  They  may  teach  us  to  pay  more  juft 
and  agreeable  honours  to  the  perfon  of  our  Redeem- 
er God-Man,  and  excite  us  to  a  nobler  pradlice  of 
gratitude,  to  do  and  fuffer  any  thing  for  his  fake, 
who  has  done  and  fuffered  fo  much  for  us  on  earth, 
and  who  continues  to  do  fo  much  for  us  in  heaven., 
Sure  it  muil  be  a  culpable  defed:  in  us,  willingly  to 
withhold  any  part  of  that  efleem,  afFeftion  and  love 
from  the  Man  Chrift  Jefus,  which  he  has  fo  richly 
merited  at  our  hands  by  his  amazing  condefcenfion, 
by  his  former  mortal  agonies,  and  by  his  prefent  ex- 
tenfive  benefits.  We  vvould  not  willingly  treat  any 
of  our  fellow -creatures  at  fo  low  and  unworthy  a 
rate,  as  too  often  we  treat  the  Son  of  God  who  di- 
ed for  us,  and  is  exalted  to  the  Father's  throne.  Rev. 
iii.  27.  and  iv.  21. 

It  has  pleafsd  the  Father  that  all  the  fulncfs  of 
Godhead  fhould  dwell  bodily  in  the  Man  Jelus,  that 

there 


l^z  The  extenjive  Powers  Disc.  II. 

there  fhould  be  a  perfonal  union  between  God  and 
man,  that  fo  the  human  nature  being  a  part  of  the 
complex  pcrfon  of  the  Mediator,  it  might  beafliim- 
ed  into  the  complex  objeft  of  worlhip  :  and  indeed 
if  we  do  not  include  the  human  nature  of  Chrift  in 
the  honours  which  we  paj''  him,  I  think  we  can  be 
hardly  faid  to  give  him  any  of  that  fpecial  honour 
in  a  proper  fenfe,  to  which  the  Father  has  advanced 
him  by  this  union :  and  we  feem  to  deprive  his 
facred  perfon  alfo  of  that  peculiar  glory  which  he 
received  from  the  Father  by  way  of  gift  or  reward 
for  his  fufferings.  For  it  is  not  the  divine  nature 
properly,  but  the  human,  which  endured  the  fuffer- 
ings, and  is  entitled  to  the  reward.  Whatfoever  fub- 
lime  honours  therefore  we  pay  to  the  pure  Godhead 
of  Chrift,  while  we  have  no  adual  regard  to  the 
Man  Jcfus  who  is  united  to  the  Deity,  we  feem  to 
riegle(!;\  that  peculiar  honour  due  to  him,  for  which 
we  have  perhaps  the  m.oft  frequent  precepts  and  ex- 
amples in  the  New  Teflament,  i.  e.  the  honour  due 
to  him  as  God-Man  and  Mediator. 

I  grant  that  w^e  muft  not  feparate  the  divine  na- 
ture of  Chrift  from  the  human,  while  we  addrefs  him 
with  religious  worfliip  ;  for  the  mere  Man  abftraded 
from  Godhead  doth  not  feem  a  proper  objeft,  nor 
juftly  capable  of  it,  according  to  the  rules  of  fcrip- 
ture  ;  yet  while  we  direct  our  devotions  to  his  whole 
facred  perfon,  our  forms  of  addrefs  may  and  ought 
to  have  frequent  refpeCt  to  the  paft  forrows  and  The 
prefcnt  glories  and  powers  of  his  human  nature  :  this 
is  to  worfhip  him,  according  to  the  patterns  of 
worfhip  paid  to  him,  which  ftand  recorded  in  fcrip- 
ture  for  our  imitation.  See  Rev.  i.  5,  6.  and  v. 
9.  and  vii.  9,  10, 

All  the  honour  which  we  pay  to  the  Man  Jefus, 
muft  redound  to  the  glory  of  the  indwelling  God- 
head, and  to  the  honour  of  the  Father ;    yet  we 

Qiould 


Sect.  III.  ef  Chriji  glorified.  153 

Ihould  look  upon  ourfelves  under  fpeclal  obligations, 
to  pay  particular  honour  and  love  to  whom  honour 
and  love  are  due,  and  not  forget  the  intereft  of  the 
human  nature  of  Chrift  in  the  fmart  of  his  fuffer- 
ings,  and  in  the  glory  of  his  exaltation,  when  we  pay 
religious  worlhip  to  our  Immanuel,  or  God  with  us. 
See  thefe  things  more  difcourfed  at  large  in  my  third 
Diflertation  on  the  Trinity. 

Such  railed  fentiments  as  thefe  concerning  the 
power  and  dignity  of  our  exalted  Redeemer,  may 
difcover  to  us  the  fenfe  and  beauty  of  leveral  ex- 
preffions  of  fcripture  which  before  were  unobferved 
or  unknown ;  and  may  make  it  appear  with  what 
propriety  the  fcripture  fpeaks  concerning  the  rewards 
and  recompenfes  which  Chrifl  received,  on  the  ac- 
count of  his  fufferings  :  it  difcovers  alfo  the  diftinft 
capacities  with  which  he  is  furnilhed  to  fulfil  thofe 
glorious  offices  of  government  and  judgment,  that 
the  Father  has  invefted  him  with. 

While  we  give  a  facred  freedom  to  our  meditar 
tions  on  this  fubje£t,  we  may  feel  ourfelves  infpired 
with  holy  breathings  toward  the  upper  world,  where 
the  perfon  of  our  great  Redeemer  dwells  at  the 
right  hand  of  God.  Such  an  elevation  of  thought 
may  awaken  in  us  yet  further  degrees  of  humble  and 
facred  curiofity  to  arrive  at  a  better  acquaintance 
with  the  great  Theanthropos,  or  God  in  our  nature, 
'  whom  having  not  feen  we  love,'  and  '  in  whom, 
though  now  we  fee  him  not,  yet  believing  we  rejoice.' 
This  fhould  make  us  long  till  the  time  comes,  when 
our  doubtful  and  imperfedl  guefles  at  his  glory  fhall 
vanifli ;  when  we  fliall  view  him  no  longer  through 
the  darknefs  of  a  glafs,  but  fee  him  as  he  is,  and  be- 
hold him  face  to  face.  Then  fhall  it  appear,  that 
eternal  life  in  our  poffeilion  of  it,  as  well  as  in  our 
way  to  it,  confifts  in  the  kno7,ledge  of  the  one  true 
God,  and  Jefus  Chrift  v^hoai  he  has  fent.  John 

xvii. 


1^4  T^he  extenfive  Powers  Disc.  11. 

xvii.  3.  Then  fhall  the  Son  of  God  hlmfelf,  and 
all  his  faints  together,  rejoice  in  the  accomplifhment 
of  that  glorious  language  of  his  interceflion ;  John 
xvii.  24.  '  Father,  I  will  that  they  alfo  whom  thou 
haft  given  me,  be  with  me  where  I  am,  that  they 
may  behold  my  glory  which  thou  haft  given  me  :* 
and  this  will  be  a  great  part  of  our  heaven.    Amen. 


S    E    C    T.      IV. 

Tejlimonies  from  other  fi^r/fers. 

biNfCE  I  have  finiflied  this  Difcourfe,  I  have  met 
with  feveral  authors  who  v/ere  zealous  and  hearty 
friends  of  the  dodrine  of  the  Deity  of  Chrift,  and 
yet  have  raifed  their  meditations  to  a  fublime  degree 
concerning  the  extenfive  powers  and  capacities  of 
his  human  nature  now  glorified.  Perhaps  it  will  al- 
lure fome  readers  into  a  more  favourable  fentiment 
of  this  doftrine,  when  they  (hall  find  that  it  is  not  a 
loofe  and  wild  fligjht  of  imasfination,  but  the  fettled 
and  fedate  judgment  of  former  writers  of  worth  and 
eminency  ;  and  for  this  reafon  I  have  made  the  fol- 
lowing citations. 

If  we  were  to  confult  the  writings  of  the  ancient 
fathers,  Dr.  Whitby*  affures  us  in  his  Annotations 
on  Philip,  ii.  9.  that  "  They  refer  this  high  exalta- 
tion of  Chrift,  not  to  his  divine  but  human  nature  ^ 
and  that  the  apoftle  fpeaks  not  here  of  the  exalta- 
tion of  his  divine  nature  by  the  manifeftation  of 
his  concealed  glory  and  power,  but  of  the  exaltation 

of 

*  However  Dr.  Whitby  in  his  latter  days  fell  in  i)retty  much 
with  Dr.  Samuel  Clarke's  opinion  ;  yet  when  he  wrote  his  Anno- 
tations, he  was  zealous  againft  Arianifm,  and  a  fervent  defender 
of  the  proper  Deity  of  Chrift,  fo  that  his  fenfe  on  this  point  can- 
not be  fufoedt  J  here. 


S  E  c  T .  I II.  of  Chrijl  glorified.  1 5  5 

of  that  nature  which  had  fufFered,  for  this  is  repre- 
fented  in  fcripture  as  the  reward  of  his  paffion. 
Heb.  ii.  9.  We  fee  him,  faith  the  apoftle,  who  was 
made  a  httle  lower  than  the  angels,  for  the  fuffering 
of  death  crowned  with  glory  and  honour.  And 
again,  The  elders  about  the  throne  faid,  '  Worthy  is 
the  Lamb  that  was  flain  to  receive  power  and  riches.' 
Rev.  V.  27.  Though  it  was  given  to  the-  Man 
Chrift  Jefus,  becaufe  the  fulnefs  of  the  Godhead 
dwelt  in  him." 

He  adds  alfo,  at  ver.  11.  "Seeing  the  Father 
thus  exalted  the  humanity  of  Chrift,  fince  he  unit- 
ed the  Logos  to  the  human  nature;  what  hinders 
that  this  exaltation  fhould  be  faid,  to  be  to  the  glo- 
ry of  the  Father,  from  whom  he  received  even  the 
divine  nature  ?" 

I  might  cite  feveral  other  teftimonies  from  Dr. 
Whitby's  Annotations,  and  every  learned  reauer 
knows  that  in  thofe  Annotations  he  is  zealous  upon 
all  occafions  to  oppofe  the  Arian  do6lrine. 

As  the  fathers  fuppofe  this  exaltation  to  the  gov- 
ernment and  judgment  of  the  world  to  belong  to 
the  human  nature  of  Chrift,  fo  the  fchool-men  are 
zealous  for  the  communication  of  fuch  a  moft  ex- 
tenfive  knowledge  to  the  Man  Chrift  Jefus,  as  ren- 
ders him  capable  of  thefe  offices ;  and  yet  the  fchool- 
men  are  well  known  to  be  as  zealous  defenders  of 
the  divinity  of  our  blefied  Saviour,  as  any  Chriftian 
writers  whatfoever. 

The  Lutherans  are  as  hearty  believers  that  Chrift 
is  true  God,  and  that  they  fuppofe  his  human  nature 
to  be  advanced  now  in  glory  to  an  univerfal  knowl- 
edge of  all  things  in  heaven  and  in  earth,  and  that 
by  union  with  his  deity ;  fo  that  he  has  a  fort  of 
omniprefence  and  omnifcience. 

If  you  confult  the  remonftrant  divines,  they  have 
the  fame  opinion  of  the  matter  5    fee  Limborch's 

Theology 


156  The  cxtenftve  Powers  Disc.  II. 

Theology  in  Latin,  book  5.  chap,  xviii.  *'  Though 
we  have  excluded  all  creatures  from  being  the  ob- 
je£l  of  divine  worlhip,  yet  this  mud  not  exclude  our 
Lord  Jefus  Chrift  the  Mediator ;  for  though  as  he  is 
man  he  is  a  creature,  yet  by  means  of  his  mediatory 
office  he  is  fo  highly  exalted  above  all  creatures, 
that  religious  honour  muft  be  given  him  as  '  Lord 
of  all."  And  in  fedlion  13th,  *' If  it  be  objected, 
that  omnifcience  and  omnipotence  are  required  in 
order  to  render  any  being  adorable,  I  anfwer.  Not 
cflTential  and  abfolute  omnipotence  and  omnifcience, 
but  fo  much  as  is  neceflary  to  know  all  the  thoughts 
and  prayers  of  the  worlhippcrs,  and  to  fupply  all 
their  neceffities  ;  but  we  have  fliown  that  both  thefe 
belong  to  Jefus  Chrift  as  Mediator."  Yet  this  au- 
thor is  an  hearty  defender  of  the  blefled  doftrine  of 
the  Trinity  according  to  the  common  fentiments  of 
Chriftianity,  as  appears  in  book  3d.  chap,  xviith. 

A  very  ingenious  gentleman  of  the  church  of  Eng- 
land, who  has  difcourfed  of  the  future  ftate,  and  the 
progrjflive  knowledge  of  the  faints  there,  p.  46. 
writes  thus ;  "  Our  Lord  Jefus  Chrift  remains  a 
true  man  in  his  glorified  ftate,  and  yet  certainly  his 
prcfence  is  much  more  extenfive  than  when  he  dwelt 
on  earth.  He  may  perhaps  as  cafily  infped  the 
whole  globe  of  this  earth,  and  the  heavens  that  en- 
compafs  and  furround  it,  as  any  of  us  can  view  a 
globe  or  circumference  of  an  inch  diameter  ;  for  he 
is  the  Sovereign  of  mankind.  He  is  the  Prince  of 
the  kings  of  the  earth.  He  is  the  Governor  of  the 
world.  The  laws  by  which  they  ought  to  live,  and 
by  which  they  muft  be  judged,  are  his  laws. 

"  Befides,  he  is  our  great  Intercefibr  with  God 
Almighty ;  but  how  can  he  intercede  for  what  he 
knows  not,  or  know  what  he  does  not  hear?  How 
can  all  the  prayers  of  his  people  come  before  him, 
unlefs  his  prefence   be  very  dirtlifive,   and  extend 

vviili 


Sect.  III.  •/  Chriji  glorified.  r/7 

with  the  fabric  of  earth  and  heaven  ?  I  am  not 
about  to  affirm  the  ubiquity  of  Chrift's  bodily  pref- 
ence,  nor  to  determine  the  manner  how  he  is  pref- 
ent  ;  but  that  Jefus  Chrift,  even  in  his  human  na- 
ture, does  view  and  take  cognifance  of  the  affairs  of 
man,  I  think  cannot  be  doubted.  Page  49.  Chrift 
Jefus  is  the  head  of  his  church  even  in  his  human 
nature  :  how  can  he  know  the  ufefulnefs  and  the 
neceffity  of  fpecial  communications  to  the  feveral 
and  fmgle  members  of  his  body,  without  a  large- 
nefs  of  prefence  ?" 

*'  In  brief,  Chrift  Jefus  confidered  as  Man  and 
Mediator,  is  the  great  and  general  Ad  mi  niftrator  of 
all  the  affairs  of  this  human  world ;  whatever  is 
done  in  it,  he  does  it,  for  '  all  power  in  heaven  and 
in  earth  is  given  unto  him.*  *  Great  is  the  myftery 
of  godlinefs ;'  and  certainly,  even  the  Man  Chrift 
Jefus  is  a  far  more  glorious  perfon  than  the  moft  of 
Chriftians,  j^a,  or  of  Chriftian  divines,  do  conceive 
or  apprehend.  He  is  called  the  Sun  of  righteouf- 
nefs,  and  compared  to  light,  and  doth  enlighten  all 
the  intelleftual  world.  He  is  the  exprefs  image  of 
his  Father's  perfon  :  that  is,  perhaps,  the  moft  live- 
ly charader  and  expreflion  of  the  Deity,  that  is 
among  created  beings.  He  is  fat  down  on  the 
right  hand  of  the  Majefty  on  high :  that  is,  he  is 
next  the  pure  Godhead,  the  moft  illuftrious  eflence 
in  the  world. 

"  Let  no  man  mifunderftand  me  in  what  I  have 
faid  concerning  the  human  nature  of  Chrift  Jefus. 
I  do  not  deny  his  divine  nature,  nor  the  union 
thereof  to  the  human  :  I  extend  the  prefence  of  his 
human  nature  no  farther  than  the  nature  of  his 
mediatory  office  doth  require  it.  And  touching  the 
dodrine  of  the  Trinity,  and  the  union  of  the  eternal 
V/ord  with  the  hum^n  nature,  leftcem  it  the  great 

effential. 


i^S  Tlie  extenfive  Powers  Disc.  II. 

efll-ntial,  as  well  as  the  great  myflery  of  the  Chriftian 
religion,  and  do  very  heartily  believe  it." 

Dr.  Thomas  Goodwin  in  his  Treatife  of  the  heart 
of  Chrift  in  heaven,  part  3;d,  fays,  "  The  underftand- 
ing  of  the  human  nature  of  Chrift  hath  notice  and 
cognifance  of  all  the  occurrences  that  befall  his 
members  here.  And  for  this  the  text  is  clear ;  for 
the  apofhle  fjjeaks  this  for  our  encouragement,  that 
Chrift  is  touched  with  the  feeling  of  our  infirmities. 
Which"  could  not  be  a  relief  to  us,  if  it  fuppofed 
not  this,  that  he  particularly  and  diftindly  knew 
them  ;  and  if  not  all  as  well  as  fome,  we  fhould 
want  relief  in  all,  as  not  knowing  which  he  knew, 
and  which  he  knew  not.  And  the  apoftle  aflirms 
this  of  his  human  nature,  (as  was  faid)  for  he  fpeaks 
of  that  nature  that  was  tempfed  here  below.  As 
*  all  power  in  heaven  and  earth  is  committed  unto 
him'  as  Son  of  Man,  (as  the  fcripture  fpeaks)  fo  all 
knowledge  is  given  him  of  all  things  done  in  heaven 
and  earth,  and  this  as  Son  of  Man  too,  his  knowl- 
edge and  power  being  ot  equal  extent.  He  is  the 
Sun  as  well  in  refpect  of  knowledge,  as  of  righteouf- 
nefs,  and  there  is  nothing  hid  from  his  light  and 
beams,  which  do  pierce  the  darkeft  corners  of  tlie 
hearts  of  the  fons  of  men  ;  he  knows  the  fores  and 
diftreiles  of  their  hearts.  Like  as  a  looking-glafs 
made  into  the  form  of  a  round  globe,  and  hung  in 
the  midft  of  a  room  takes  in  all  the  fpecies  of  things 
done,  or  that  are  therein  at  once ;  fo  doth  the  en- 
larged undcrftanding  of  Chrift's  human  nature  take 
in  the  affairs  of  this  world,  (which  he  is  appointed 
to  govern)  efpecially  the  miferies  of  his  members, 
and  this  at  once." 

The  fame  author  in  his  fecond  Vol.  in  fol.  book 
^d.  page  9^;.  has  a  large  treatife  upon  the  extenfive 
glories  and  powers  of  Chrift  confidered  as  God-Man, 

wherein 


Sect.  III.  of  Chrifi  glorified,  159 

wherein  he  exalts  his  human  nature  to  a  mofl  amaz- 
ing degree. 

Mr.  Baxter  in  his  Annotations  on  Phil.  ii.  9. 
affirms  "  God  highly  exalted  him  in  the  manhood 
in  which  he  fuffered,  and  hath  given  him  greater  dig- 
nity and  honour  and  renown  than  any  creature  ever 
had ;  that  to  his  dignity  and  power  all  creatures 
fhould  be  fubjed,  and  angels,  and  men,  and  devils 
Ihould,  by  their  fubmiffion  refpedively,  honour  his 
name."  And  in  his  paraphrafe  on  Heb.  ii.  9.  "  As 
his  death  was  fuffered  in  the  common  nature  of 
man,  fo  he  died  to  bring  man  to  glory  with  himfelf, 
and  therefore  this  text  may  be  well  underftood  of 
the  advancement  of  man  both  in  Chrift  and  in  his 
church. 

Thus  we  find  there  are  fome  learned  writers  of 
mod  of  the  feds  and  parties  in  the  Chriftian  world 
who  have  declared  themfelves  freely  to  embrace  this 
opinion,  and  to  believe  the  moft  extenfive  knowl- 
edge and  power  of  the  human  nature  of  Chrift  in  his 
prefent  glorified  ftate. 


DISCOURSE 


DISCOURSE       III. 

The  Glories  j/'Christ  as  God-Ma^ 
dijplayedy 

By  TRACING  OUT  THE  EARLY  EXISTENCE  OF 

HIS   HUMAN    NATURE   as    the    First- 
born OF  GOD,  OR   as   the  First  of  all 
Creatures,    before    the   Formation  of      | 
this  World.  ' 


SECT.     I. 
INTRODUCTION. 

X.  HE  various  glories  of  our  blefled  Lord  are  the 
fubjed;  of  our  holy  meditation  and  our  joy.  There 
are  wonders  enough  in  his  perfon,  his  charadlers  and 
offices,  to  raife  our  facred  curiofity,  and  to  entertain 
our  delightful  inquiries  in  time  and  eternity.  Ma- 
ny of  thefe  are  diiplayed  by  the  gofpel  in  an  open 
and  illuftrious  light :  others  are  yet  unrevealed,  and 
referved  till  we  fhall  fee  him  face  to  face  :  and  there 
arealfo  fome  which  are  revealed,  but  with  lefs  glar- 
ing evidence,  and  are  contained  like  hidden  treafures 
in  the  mines  of  fcripture,  to  awaken  our  diligence 
in  the  purfuit  of  this  divine  knowledge  :  and  there 
is  reafon  to  hope,  that  every  fpark  of  new-difcovercd 
glory  will  richly  recompenie  the  labour  of  our  in- 
quiries. 

The 


Sect.  I.  The  early  Exijlence^  &c.  i6t' 

The  foregoing  Difcourfe  hath  led  us  to  find  feme 
furprifing  powers  and  excellencies  in  the  Maa 
Chrifl  Jefus,  which  perhaps  have  not  been  much 
known  or  commonly  obferved.  It  is  pleafant  and 
aftonifhing  to  think  how  far  the  human  foul  of  our 
exalted  Lord,  under  the  condud  of  his  divine  na- 
ture, may  have  a  hand  in  the  government  of  the 
nations  and  the  judgment  of  the  world.  This  in- 
vites our  faitli  to  look  forward  to  the  great  refurrec- 
tion-day  with  holy  pleafure  and  expectation.  And 
if  we  turn  our  eyes  backward  to  the  beginning  of  all 
things,  and  read  the  fcripture  with  ftudious  fearch, 
perhaps  we  may  fpy  fome  early  glories  attending  his 
lacred  perlbn,  which  we  never  thought  of  before. 

Now,  if  by  a  more  careful  infped:ion  into  the 
word  of  God,  we  fliall  find  it  revealed  there  with 
unexpefted  evidence,  that  the  human  foul  of  our 
Tord  Jefus  Chrift  had  an  exlflence,  and  was  perfon- 
ally  united  to  the  divine  nature,  long  before  it 
came  to  dwell  in  flefii  and  blood  ;  and  that  by  this 
glorious  perlon,  God  the  Father  managed  the  af- 
'fairs  of  his  ancient  church,  as  his  own  fupreme  min- 
iiter,  and  as  the  great  Mediator  and  King  of  his 
people,  and  that  at  a  certain  appointed  period  of 
time  God  Tent  down  this  blefled  foul,  willingly  di- 
vefted  of  primitive  joys  and  glories,  to  take  fleOi 
in  the  womb  of  the  virgin,  to  dwell  in  the  body  of 
an  infant,  and  grow  up  by  degrees  to  the  perfection 
of  a  man,  and  in  this  body  to  fuffer  a  thoufand  in- 
dignities and  injuries  from  men  and  devils,  and  to 
fuftain  intenfe  pains  or  agonies  from  fome  unknown, 
manifeflations  of  the  wrath  of  God  againft  fin,  and 
at  laft  iubmit  to  death  and  the  grave  ;  I  (ay,  if  we 
fliould  find  fuch  a  doGtrine  contained  in  the  fcrip- 
ture, will  n9t  fuch  thoughts  as  thefe  fpread  a  new 
luflre  over  all  our  former  ideas  of  the  glory  of  Chrifl, 
^vcn  in  his  huixan  nature,  and  add  to  the  conde- 
L  fcenfions 


1 62  The  early  ExiJIence  Disc.  Ill, 

fcenfions  of  our  bleflcd  Saviour,  confidered  as  God 
and  Man  in  one  perlbn  ?  How  happily  will  it  make 
the  whole  fcheme  of  our  religion,  and  the  book  of 
God  which  reveals  it,  more  intelligible  and  delight- 
ful to  all  thofe  who  love  Chriftianity  ?  And  it  will 
render  this  facred  volume  much  more  defenfible 
againft  the  men  who  doubt  or  deny  the  blefled  doc- 
trines of  it. 

But  that  I  may  not  anticipate  my  defign,  let  us 
proceed  to  unfold  this  doctrine  by  degrees,  according 
to  the  following  propofitions. 

SECT.      II. 

Some  Propofitions  leading  to  the  Proof  of  the  Do^rine 
propofed. 

Prop.  I.  1 T  is  evident  from  many  places  of  fcripture, 
that  Chrift  had  an  exiftence  before  he  took  flelh  up- 
on him,  and  came  into  this  world. 

John  i.  I.  '  In  the  beginning  was  the-Woi'<^>  ^nd 
the  Word  was  with  God,  and  the  W^rcfwas  God.* 

Ver.  3.  *  All  things  were  made  by  him.' 

Ver.  14.  'And  the  Word  was  nmde'flefli,  and 
dwelt  among  us.' 

John  xii.  41.  '  Thefe  things  faid  Efaias  when  he 
faw  his  glory,  and  fpake  of  him  :'  Wherein  the  apof- 
tle  John  attributes  to  our  Lord  Jefus  Chrift  that  ac- 
tual glorious  appearance  which  Ifaiah  faw  of  the 
Lord  of  Hofts,  Chap.  vi. 

John  iii.  13.  '  No  man  hath  afcended  up  to 
heaven,  Ijut  he  that  came  down  from  heaven,  even 
the  Son  of  Man  which  is  in  heaven  ;'  0  wv  iv  tm  a^a^w, 
or,  which  was  in  heaven^  for  both  fenfes  are  agree- 
able to  the  Greek. 

John  viii.  58.  *  Before  Abraham  was,  I  am.' 

John 


S^CT.  It.         of  Chrijl's  Human  Sou!.  165 

John  I.  15-  *  He  that  cometh  after  me  is  preferred 
before  me,'  fays  John  the  baptift,  '  becaufc  he  was 
before  me  :*  ijUTreoS'sv  ^ah  yiyoviv  o\i  wpwro?  fAa  m.  One 
of  thefe  words  which  we  render  before  me,  feem  nec- 
cfTarily  to  fignify  a  priority  of  time,  and  it  is  hard  to 
fay  which  of  both  of  them  cannot  do  fo,  but  the 
fame  thing  cannot  be  proved  by  itfelf.  The  verfe 
may  be  conftrued  thus.  This  is  he  of  whom  I  [aid, 
he  that  ccmes  after  me  had  a  being  before  me^  for  indeed 
he  was  before  me,  that  is,  he  is  more  excellent  than  I ; 
or  thus,  he  was  preferred  before  me,  becaufe  he  had 
his  being  before  1  had  mine,  though  as  to  his  natural 
birth  as  man,.  Chrift  was  fix  months  younger  than 
John.  So  Dr.  Goodwin  and  many  others  inter- 
pret this  text. 

But  I  proceed  to  other  fcriptures,  which  prove 
the  exiftence  of  Chrift  before  his  incarnation. 

John  iii.  30,  31.  *  He  that  cometh  from  above,  is 
above  all  ;  he  that  is  of  the  earth  is  earthly,  and 
fpeaketh  of  the  earth  :  he  that  cometh  from  above, 
is  above  all.' 

I  Cor.  XV.  47.  *  The  firft  man  was  of  the  earth 
earthly:  the  fecjnd  man  was  the  Lord  from  heaven.* 

John  vi.  33.  *  The  bread  of  God  is  he  which 
cometh  down  from  heaven,  and  giveth  life  unto  the 
world.' 

Ver.  38.  *  I  came  down  from  heaven  not  to  do 
my  ovv^n  will,  but  the  will  of  him  that  fent  me.* 

Ver.  51.  'I  am'  the  living  bread  which  camiC  down 
from  heaven.' 

Ver.  62.  '  What  and  if  ye  fhall  fee  the  Son  of 
Man  afcend  where  he  was  before  ?' 

John  xvl.  28.  'I  came  forth  from  the  Father, 
and  am  come  into  the  world  j  again,  I  leave  the 
world,  and  go  to  the  Father,' 

John  xvii.  5.  '  Glorify  thou  me,  O  Father,  with 
thine  own  felf,  with  the  glory  which  I  had  with  thee 
before  the  world  was.'  i  Cor. 

La 


164  The  early  Exijlence  Disc.  III. 

1  Cor.  X.  9.  '  Neither  let  us  tempt  Chrift  as 
fome  of  them  alfo  tempted,  and  were  deftroyed  of 
Terpen  ts.' 

2  Cor.  viii.  9.  '  Ye  know  the  grace  of  our  Lord 
Jeilis  Chrift,  that  though  he  was  rich,  yet  for  your 
fakes  he  became  poor.' 

Phihp.  ii.  6,  7.  *  Who  being  in  the  form  of  God, 
thought  it  not  robbery  to  be  equal  with  God  ;  but 
made  himfclf  of  no  reputation,  and  was  made  in  the 
liktrnels  of  man.' 

Col.  i.  15.  *Who  is  the  image  of  the  invifible 
God,  the  firft-born  of  every  creature,  for  by  him 
were  all  things  created,  &c.  and  he  is  before  all 
things.' 

Hcb.  i.  2.  *  His  Son,  whom  he  hath  appointed 
heir  of  all  things,  by  whom  alio  he  made  the 
worlds.' 

1  John  iv,  2,  3.  '  Every  fpirit  which  confefleth 
that  Jefus  Chrift  is  come  in  the  flefh,  is  of  God  ; 
and  every  fpirit  that  confefleth  not  that  Jefus  Chrift 
is  come  in  the  flcOi,  is  not  of  God.' 

Rev.  iii.  14.  Chrift;  is  called  '  the  beginning  of  the 
creation  of  God.'     Hapyvi  mg  xT»<r£a)?  m  ©£». 

I  might  alfo  cite  other  fcriptures  from  the  Old 
Teftament,  where  Chnft  is  re[)refcnted  fometimes 
as  '  Jehovah,'  or  '  God  Almighty  ;'  and  fometimes 
as  the  '  Angel  of  the  Lord,'  and  as  the  '  Captain  of 
the  Lord's  hoft,'  appearing  to  the  patriarchs,  con- 
verfing  with  Abraham,  wreftling  with  Jacob,  giving 
orders  to  Moles,  encouraging  JoHiua  and  Gideon, 
8cc.  But  I  ftiall  have  occafion  to  mention  them  im- 
mediately, and  therefore  I  omit  the  citations  here. 

Prop.  II.  Among  thofc  exprefllons  of  fcripture 
which  difcover  the  pre-exiftence  of  Chrift,  there  arc 
feveral  from  whence  we  may  derive  a  certain  proof 
that  he  has  the  divine  nature  in  him,  and  is  true 
God. 

Such 


Sect.  II.         of  Chrijl^s  Human  Soul.  165 

Such  are  thofe  places  of  the  Old  Teflament  where 
the  angel  that  appeared  to  the  ancients  is  called 

*  God/    the    *  Almighty  God,'    *  Jehovah,'    the 

*  Lord  of  Hofts,'  *  I  am  that  I  am,'  &c. 

Such  are  thofe  places  in  fcripture  in  the  Old  and 
New  Teflament  where  he  is  called  '  God'  or  '  Jeho- 
vah,* and  is  faid  exprefsly  to  '  create  the  world.' 
John  i.  I,  2,  3.  Rom.  ix.  5.  Heb.  i.  jo,  ii,  &c, 
with  fome  others. 

It  appears  probable  to  me  alfo,  that  when  our 
Lord  fays,  John  viii.  58.  '  Before  Abraham  was,  I 
am,'  he  does  not  only  mean  to  exprefs  his  pre-exift- 
ence,  but  his  divine  nature  alfo,  I  AM  being  the 
name  of  God,  Exod.  iii.  14.  And  the  great  modern 
refiner  of  the  Arian  fcheme.  Dr.  Samuel  Clarke,  al- 
lows fo  much  as  this,  viz.  That  from  our  Saviour's 
ufing  the  words  /  am,  inftead  of  /  was,  he  might 
poffibly  intend  to  infinuate  that  he  was  the  perfon  in 
whom  the  name  of  God  was,  viz.  *  Jehovah,'  or,  '  I 
am  :'  and  he  adds,  "  this  indeed  cannot  be  denied  ;" 
though  he  will  not  allow  him  here  to  defcribe  him- 
felf  as  the  felf-exiftent  being.  See  Dr.  Clarke's 
Script.  Do(5lr.  Chap.  2.  Sedt.  3.  Numb.  591. 

But  there  are  many  more  proofs  of  the  divinity  of 
Chrift  which  are  recited,  and  confirmed  under  the 
eighth  and  ninth  propofitions  of  the  Difcourfe  on 
the  Chriftian  Dodrine  of  the  Trinity,  and  which  are 
needlefs  to  be  repeated  here. 

Prop.lW.  There  are  other  fcriptures  which  de- 
note the  pre-exiftence  of  Chritl,  and  may  alfo  per- 
haps'include  a  reference  to  his  divine  nature,  but 
carry  not  with  them  fuch  a  full  and  convincing  evi- 
dence of  his  Godhead  as  utterly  to  exclude  all  other 
interpretations. 

Such  are  thefe,  John  iii.  31.*  He  that  cometh  from 
above  is  above  all,'&c.  i  Cor.  xv.  47.  '  The  firft  man 
is  of  the  earth  earthly,  the  fecond  man  is  the  Lord 

from 


i66  The  early  Ex'ijience  Disc.  III. 

from  heaven.'    John  iii.  13.  'No  man  hath  afcended 
up  to  heaven,  but  he  that  came  down  from  heaven,  • 
even  the  Son  of  Man  which  is  in  heaven.'* 

Prop.  IV.  But  there  are  fome  texts  which  infin- 
uatc  the  exigence  of  Chrift  before  he  came  into  the 
flelh,  which  in  their  moll  natural,  obvious  and  evi- 
dent fenfe  feem  to  refer  to  fome  intcUigent  nature  be- 
lon2.ing  to  our  Lord  Jefus  Chrift,  which  is  inferior  to 
Godhead. 

This  will  be  m.adc  evident  under  the  following 
propofition. 

Prop.  V.  Whatfqever  fcriptures  reprefent  Chrift 
as  exiftent  before  his  incarnation  in  a  nature  inferior 
to  Godhead,  do  moft  naturally  lead  us  to  the  belief 
of  the  pre-exiftence  of  his  human  foul. 

IF  there  be  any  fuch  fcriptures,  they  muft  refer 
either  to  the  human  foul  of  Chrift  (which  was  after- 
ward united  to  his  human  body)  or  to  fome  other 

fuper- 

*  I  confefs  1  have  cited  this  text  in  a  former  treatife  to  prove 
the  omniprefcnce  of  Chrift  as  God,  and  perhaps  that  may  be  part 
of  the  true  meaning  of  it :  but  I  have  lately  found  two  or  three 
writers  of  name  who  heartily  believed  the  Godhead  of  Chrift,  and 
yet  fuppofe  this  text  may  refer  to  his  pre-exiftent  foul,  becaufe 
0  wv  Bv  HPiXi/y.,  which  we  render  'who  Is  in  heaven^  may  be  as  well 
rendered  luho  ivas  in  heaven,  the  particle  uv  being  equally  capable 
of  the  paft  as  well  as  of  the  prefent  tenfe  or  time.  So  St.  John 
hiiufelf  exprcflcth  the  time  paft,  he  ivas,  by  wi/,  Chap.  ix.  25. 
where  the  blind  man  cured  by  our  Lord,  fays,  I  was  bllfiif,  tu^X©-" 
iov.  And  St.  Paul  exprefleth  (who  was)  in  the  fame  manner 
twice,  V]"-*?  ov\xq  vsx^ac,  Eph.  ii.  i.  and  vcr.  5.  'you  who  were 
dead.'  Bcza  himfelf  inclines  to  conftrue  this  word,  who  was  In 
heaven  in  this  text.  Upon  the  whole,  I  doubt  whether  this  text 
will  certainly  prove  Chrift's  divinity,  ;ind  whether  it  may  not  more 
dirccily  refer  to  his  pre-exiftent  foul.  For  lince  there  are  proofs 
enough  of  the  divinity  of  Chrift,  which  arc  ftrong  in  my  opinion  and 
Vnanlwerable,  I  would  not  conftrain  fuch  paffagcs  of  fcripture  into 
this  fervice  whofe  force  and  fenfe  are  rendered  doubtful  by  any  juft 
rules  of  criticifm. 


Sect.  II.         of  Chrijl^s  Human  Soul.  167 

fuper-angelical  nature,  as  fome  call  it,  which  might 
belong  to  our  Saviour,  befides  his  human  foul. 

And  this  is  evident,  that  this  very  notion  of  fome 
perfons  concerning  a  fu per- angelical  fpirit  belonging 
to  him*  befide  his  human  foul,  arofe  from  thofe  ma- 
ny expreffions  concerning  him  before  his  incarna- 
tion which  feem  inferior  to  Deity.  Some  writers 
faw  thefe  fort  of  expreffions  fo  flrong  in  fcripture, 
that  they  would  venture  to  introduce  three  intellec- 
tual beings  into  the  perfon  of  Chrifl,  rather  than  not 
yield  to  the  apparent  force  of  theie  expreffions. 

But  furely  it  is  not  worthy  of  a  philofopher  or  a 
divine  to  multiply  natures  in  our  Lord  Jefus  with- 
out reafon,  and  to  afcribe  to  him  any  fuch  third 
intelledual  nature,  if  the  expreflions  of  fcripture 
on  this  head  may  be  moft  evidently  explained  with- 
out it,  and  may  be  better  applied  to  his  human 
foul. 

Now  that  there  are  fuch  expreffions  that  feem  to 
intimate  a  nature  inferior  to  God,  belonging  to 
Chrift  before  he  came  in  the  flefh,  will  appear  by 
the  following  confiderations  :  and  they  may  all  be 
explained  in  the  ealieft  manner,  by  applying  them 
to  the  human  foul  of  Chrift. 

*  Note,  if  in  this  oi  any  other  of  rny  writings  I  fpeak  of  the  foul 
of  Chrift  as  being  an  angel,  or  an  angelic  fpirit,  or  in  an  angelic  ftate, 
I  mean  nothing  elfe  but  his  exifting  without  a  body,  as  angels  do, 
or  his  being  a  meffenger  of  God  the  Father  as  they  are  :  and  in  this 
fenfe  the  fcripture  calls  him  an  angel  feveral  times.  Or  if  I  fpeak. 
of  him  as  a,  fuper-angeiic  fpirit,  I  intend  no  more  than  his  having 
both  natural  and  deputed  powers  far  fuperior  to  angels :  for  I  always 
fuppofe  this  foul  to  be  truly  and  properly  a  human  fpirit  in  its  own 
nature,  i.  e.  a  fpirit  fuited  to  the  ftate  of  union  with  a  human  body, 
and  to  all  the  natural  ads  and  efFeds,  appetites  and  paffions  de- 
rived from  fach  a  union. 


SECT. 


i6S  The  early  Exijlence  Disc.  III. 


SECT.       ITT. 

Arguments  for  the  Pre-exijlenre  of  Chriffs  Human  Soiil^ 
drawn  from  various  Qtifiderations  of  fi.methin^  in- 
ferior to  Godhead  afcribed  to  him  before  and  at  his 
Incarnation. 

1  HE  firft:  fet  of  arguments  I  fhall  uie  arifes  from 
feveral  things  afcribed  to  Chrifl,  before  and  at  his 
incarnation,  which  feem  to  be  of  too  low  a  nature 
for  pure  Godhead. 

Co-'fi deration  I.  Chrifl  is  rcprefcnted  as  his  Fa- 
ther's meilenger,  minifler,  or  angel,  that  was  a  dif- 
tincft  being  from  his  Father,  fent  by  his  Father  to 
perform  fuch  actions  and  fuch  fervices  for  his  people 
long  before  his  incarnation,  fome  of  which  feem  too 
low  for  the  dignity  of  pure  Godhead. 

The  appearances  of  Chrift  to  the  patriarchs  are 
defcribed  like  the  appearances  of  an  angel,  or  a  man, 
a  glorious  man  really  diftinft  from  God,  and  yet 'fuch 
a  one  in  whom  '  God,'  or  '  Jehovah'  had  a  peculiar 
indwelling,  or  with  whom  the  divine  nature  had  a 
perfonal  union.  When  the  angel  of  the  Lord  vifit- 
ed  Abraham,  and  talked  with  him,  when  the  '  man 
wreRled  with  Jacob  till  break  of  d^y,'  when  the  an- 
gel converfed  with  Mofes  and  with  Jofhua,  and  yet 
calls  himfelf,  or  is  by  the  holy  writers  called  '  Jeho- 
vah,' the  '  Almight)','  the  'Lord,'  the  'God  of 
Abraham,'  he  the  mofl  natural  and  obvious  idea 
which  they  could  have  of  the  perlbn  appearing  to 
them,  was  the  idea  of  fome  glorious  being  or  fi)iri!: 
that  belonged  to  the  other  world,  and  in  v^hom  the 
great  God  had  a  peculiar  dwelling,  and  bv  v.'iiom  ihe 
great  God  pronounced  thofe  '.vords  or  converfed  with 
them. 

That 


Sect.  III.         of  Chrifl's  Human  Soul.  169 

That  text,  Exod.  xxiii.  20,  2[,  very  naturally 
leads  us  to  this  fenfe  :  God  fays  to  Mofes,  *  Behold 
I  fend  an  angel  before  thee  to  keep  thee  in  the  way/ 
&c.  *  obey  his  voice,  provoke  him  not,  for  he  will 
not  pardon  your  tranfgreiTions,  for  my  name  is  in 
him.'  Here  is  an  angel  or  meffenger  fenF  by  God 
the  Father  ;  that  is  certainly  an  inferior  character  ; 
yet  he  is  *  to  be  obeyed'  with  reverence,  for  '  he  can 
punifh,'  or  '  pardon  fins.'  This  is  a  divine  preroga- 
tive ;  and  how  does  this  angel  come  by  it  }  It  is 
not  as  he  is  an  angel,  or  in  his  angelic  nature,  but  it 
is  becaufe  'God's  name  is  in  him,'  i.  e.  his  divine 
power,  his  Godhead,  is  in  him  ;  this  is  given  as  the 
reaion  of  this  high  prerogative  :  God  is  united  to 
this  glorious  fpirit  or  this  human  foul  of  Chrift  : 
now  it  is  plain  that  Chrift  is  called  an  angel  in  other 
places.  He  is  the  '  Mefrenger'  or  '  Angel  of  the 
covenant,'  he  is  '  the  Angel  ot  God's  prefence,'  fo  he 
is  called  Mai.  iii.  i.  and  Ifa.  Ixiii.  9. 

Let  us  argue  a  little  farther  on  thefe  appearances 
of  Chrift  to  the  patriarchs  :  does  it  not  feem  more 
congruous  that  a  human  foul  fhould  animate  that 
human  body  which  ate  and  drank  with  Abraham 
under  a  tree,  and  fhould  aduate  thofe  human  limbs, 
when  a  man  wreftled  with  Jacob  ?  Is  it  not  beneath 
the  grandeur,  decency  and  dignity  of  the  fupreme 
Majefty  of  heaven,  to  fupply  the  place  of  fuch  a  hu- 
man foul  for  the  purpofes  or  adtions  of  animal  na- 
ture }  And  that  the  great  and  eternal  God  himfelf 
in  an  immediate  manner  Ihould  converfe  in  fo  hu- 
mane and  familiar  a  way  as  this  angel  did  with  fcvc- 
ral  of  the  patriarchs  ?  That  the  glorious  and  almigh- 
ty Godliead  fhould  itfelf  animate  a  human  body  to 
vifit  Abraham,  and  tarry  with  him  fome  hours  under 
a  tree,  while  his  wife  made  cakes,  and  drefied  the 
flefli  of  a  calf  for  God  to  eat  .?  That  the  eternal 
God  animating  a  body  fhould  '  eat  of  the  calf  which 

was 


lyQ  The  early  Exijience  Disc.  III. 

was  '  drefled  with  milk  and  butter,'  Gen.  xviii.  i,  2, 
&c.  ?  That  the  ahnight}'  and  ever  bleffed  God  him- 
ielf  fhouid  immediately  *  wreftle  with  Jacob'  in  hu- 
man limbs,  which  he  afTumed,  and  that  a  good  part 
of  the  night  Hiould  be  Ipent  thus  wreftling  'until 
break  ofWay,'  Gen.  xxxii.  24,  &c.  ?  That  the  eter- 
nal Godhead  itfelf  lliould  talk  fo  familiarly  with 
Gideon,  and  let  Gideon  ufe  fuch  a  familiar  way  of 
talking  with  God,  as  is  recorded  Judges  vi.  i  — 11  ? 
Doth  this  fuit  with  the  fupreme  glory  and  dignity 
of  eternal  Godhead  and  pure  divinity  ?  Doth  it  not 
leem  more  agreeable  that  God  fliould  do  all  this  by 
the  intermediation  of  a  human  foul,  appearing  in  a 
vifible  ihape,  than  that  the  infinite  majefty  of  God 
fhouid  immediately  abafe  itfelf  in  fuch  a  manner  ? 

Is  it  not  much  more  natural  and  eafy,  and  more 
condecent  in  itfelf,  as  well  as  more  agreeable  to  the 
words  of  fcripture,  to  fuppofe  that  it  was  the  human 
foul  of  Chrift,  afTuming  a  body  at  that  time  for 
thofe  human  purpofes  ?  And  thus  he  might  be 
called  the  '  angel'  or  '  meffenger  of  God,'  becaufe 
God  fent  him  ;  for  the  word  angel  doi\\  not  fignify 
originally  the  name  of  a  nature  but  of  an  office. 

He  might  alio  upon  tllis  fuppolltion,  with  more 
juftnefs  and  propriety  of  fpeech,  be  called  a  man, 
when  he  appears  in  the  form  of  a  man,  and  with 
the  appetites,  paffions  and  actions  of  a  man  :  Gen. 
xviii.  2,  4,  5,  8,  17.  and  xxxii.  24.  for  the  foul  is 
the  chief  part  of  a  man,  and  efpecially  when  that  foul 
appeared  in  a  human  body. 

And  yet  at  the  fame  time  he  might  be  properly 
called  *  God,'  '  the  Lord,'  and  '  Jehovah  ;'  for  this 
man  or  angel,  this  human  foul  in  an  alTumed  body, 
was  peribnally  united  to  God,  or  had  the  'fulnefs  of 
the  Godhe.id  dwelling  in  him'  by  a  perfonal  union  ; 
thoucili  the  more  immediate  ag-ent  iii   thele  animal 

and 


Sect.  III.         of  ChriJFs  Human  Soul.  17* 

and  common  aftions  of  life  was  the  human  foul, 
gather  than  the  eternal  and  blefled  God. 

The  fame  things  may  be  faid  concerning  the  vlf- 
ions  which  the  prophets  Amos  and  Zecharlah  had  of 
our  Lord  Jefus  Chrift,  when  he  *  flood  upon  the  wall 
with  a  plumb-line  in  his  hand.'  Amos  viify.  And 
when  he  '  flood  on  the  altar.*  Amos  ix.  i.  Gr  when 
*  Jofliua  the  high-prieft  flood  before  him,  and  Satan 
at  his  right  hand  to  refift  him.'  Zech.  iii.  i,  Thefe 
corporeal  fcenes  feem  better  to  befit  the  human  foul 
of  Chrift  than  pure  Godhead,  though  in  thefe  ap- 
pearances he  is  fometimes  called  the  '  Angel  of  the 
Lord',  and  fometimes  *  the  Lord,*  or  '  Jehovah,'  for 
the  reafon  before  given,  viz.  because  he  is  one  with 
pod  by  fo  intimate  a  union. 

Conjid.  IL  Chrift,  when  he  came  into  this  world, 
is  faid  to  empty  and  diveft  himfelf  of  fome  glory 
which  he  had  before  his  incarnation,  in  feveral  places 
of  fcripture.  Now  if  nothing  but  his  divine  nature 
exifted  before  this  time,  .this  divine  nature  could  not 
properly  empty  or  diveft  itfelf  of  any  glory  :  there- 
fore it  muft  be  his  inferior  nature,  or  his  human 
foul,  which  did  then  exift  and  diveft  itfelf  of  its  an- 
cient glory  for  a  feafon. 

The  firft  text  I  fhall  mention  is  that  fiimous  one 
in  the  prayer  of  Chrift,  John  xvii.  4,  5.  *  I  have  glo- 
rified thee  on  the  eq,rth  :  1  have  finilhed  the  work 
which  thou  gaveft  me  to  do.  And  now,  O  Father, 
glorify  thou  me  with  thine  own  felf,  with  the  glory 
which  I  had  with  thee  before  the  world  was.'  It 
feems  very  plain  from  thefe  words,  that  Chrift  parted 
with  ibme  glory  which  he  had  in  heaven,  when  he 
came  down  to  iinlfli  the  work  which  God  gave  him 
to  do  on  earth,  and  he  prays  to  be  reftored  to  it 
again.  I  appeal  to  every  reader,  whether  this  is  not 
the  mL>ft  obvious  and  natural  fenfe. 

Now 


1^2  The  early  Exijience  Disc.  III. 

Now  the  glory  which  belongs  to  God  is  either  ef- 
fcntial  or  manifeftative.  The  divine  nature  of  Chrift 
could  not  lofe  or  part  with  any  eflential  glories ; 
for  they  are  the  very  nature  and  eflence  of  God  : 
nor  had  the  divine  nature  any  manifeflative  glories 
before  t^e  world  was,  which  it  loft  at  the  incarna- 
tion :  for, 

I.  it  had  no  manifeflative  glories  at  all,  if  there 
were  no  angels,  no  creatures  to  which  they  could  be 
inanifefled. 

Or  2.  If  it  be  fuppofed  that  angels  were  before 
this  lower  world  was,  and  that  the  Godhead  ot  our 
Lord  Jefus  Chrift  might  then  be  known  and  glorifi- 
ed by  angels,  it  may  be  juflly  replied,  That  fuppofe 
this  be  true,  yet  he  did  not  part  with  that  glory  at 
his  coming  into  our  world,  for  the  angels  did  not 
forget  his  dignity  ;  they  continued  to  know  and 
glorify  Chrift;  they  worfliipped  him  on  earth,  Heb. 
i.  6.  and  miniftred  unto  him  as  their  fovereign  on 
various  occafions. 

Since  therefore  it  cannot  be  the  divine  nature 
that  parted  with  this  glory,  nor  can  the  divine  na- 
ture pray  for  the  reftoration  of  it,  then  it  follows 
that  the^human  nature  had  fuch  an  early  exiftence, 
and  fuch  glory  ;  for  we  cannot  fuppofe  the  human 
nature  in  this  place  prays  for  a  glory  which  it  never 
had.  This  feems  contrary  to  the  moft  obvious  itn^Q 
of  the  text. 

Or,  (hall  we  lay  as  the  Socinians  do,  that  the  hu- 
man nature  prays  for  a  glory  which  it  had  in  the 
eternal  counlels  and  decrees  of  God  ?  But  all  the 
clcel  of  God  had  alfo  glory  before  the  world  was,  in 
this  fenfe,  viz.  in  the  eternal  decrees  and  counfels  : 
and  how  very  forced  and  unnatural  an  interpretation 
is  this  ?  Yet  it  is  fuch  as  the  Socinians  are  conftrain-  , 
cd  to  take  uj)  with,  though  without  any  realon  :  be- 
/ides,  how  unhappily  would  fuch  an  expofition  tend 

to 


Sect.  III.         of  Chrijl's  Human  Soul.  173 

to  fupport  the  Antinomian  language  of  ourjuftlfica- 
tion  from  eternity,  &c.* 

But  how  eafy,  plain  and  obvious  is  the  fenfe  of 
thefe  words,  if  we  iuppofe  the  foul  of  our  Lord  Je- 
fus  Chrift  to  be  the  firft-born  of  every  creature,  as 
Col.  i.  15  and  thus  to  enjoy  real  glory  and  dignity 
in  the  Father's  prefence  before  the  world  was,  as 
well  as  in  all  the  following  ages,  till  he  emptied  him- 
felf  of  it  at  his  incarnation  ?  And  then  he  prays  thus  ; 
"  Father,  I  have  finilbed  the  work  on  earth,  which 
thou  gaveft  me  to  do  in  my  ftate  of  humiliation 
here ;  and  now,  O  F-ather,  take  mc  to  thyfelf  in 
heaven,  where  I  once  was,  and  glorify  me  with  the 
real  glory  which  I  had  there  before  the  creation  : 
my  days  of  appointed  abafement  are  paft,  therefore 
let  the  power,  fplendour  and  dignity  which  I  poffelT- 

ed 

*  Since  this  Trcatife  was  written,  I  have  met  with  another  ex- 
plication of  this  text,  in  oppofition  to  the  fenfe  I  have  given,  and 
whicli  I  confefs  may  feem  fomething  more  plaufible  than  the  reft, 
viz.  That  the  human  nature  or  peifon  of  Chrift  does  not  here  pray 
for  any  glory  to  be  reftored  which  was  loft,  but  for  the  prefent  man- 
ifeftation  of  the  glory  of  his  Godhead  to  mankind,  which  glory  was 
really  eternal,  and  before  the  creation  :  or  he  prays,  that  the  human 
nature  may  have  its  due  fliare  of  honour,  upon  the  account  of  its 
union  to  the  divine  nature,  which  had  a  glory  before  the  world  was  ; 
which  honour  was  withheld  from  ihe  human  nature  in  a  great  meaf- 
ure  till  his  fufFerings  were  iinifiied  :  fo  that  with  regard  to  his  di- 
vine nature,  he  prays  only  for  the  manifeftation  of  the  glory  ;  but 
in  refpeifl  of  his  human  nature,  he  prays  for  the  real  communication 
of  that  glory  which  might  belong  to  fuch  a  fublime  union  with  the 
eternal  Godhead. 

All  that  i  (hall  reply  to  this  at  prefent  is,  that  it  is  fo  muc!\ 
more  difficult  and  intricate  for  any  reader  to  find  out  this  expofition 
than  that  which  I  have  given,  that  I  leave  any  impartial  perfon  to 
judge  which  is  the  moft  natural  and  eafy  fenfe,  and  which  muft  the 
apoftles  moft  naturally  receive  and  underftand  when  thefe  words 
were  fpoken  in  their  hearing.  Indeed,  all  other  expofitions  befides 
this  which  I  here  fupport,  are  forced  and  ftrained,  and  diftant  from 
the  natural  ideas  whicli  occur  to  every  reader.  And  all  divines 
who  believe  not  the  doilrine  of  Chrift's  pre-exiftent  foul,  have  been 
alw.iy£  puzzled  to  find  any  tolerable  fenfe  to  put  upon  thefe  words. 


J 74  ^-^^  ^^^h  ^xij^^^^(^^  Disc.  IIL 

ed  In  thy  prefence  before  the  world  was,  be  reftored 
to  me." 

The  words,  *  with  thine  own  felf,'  in  our  Saviour's 
prayer,  feem  to  determine  it  to  be  a  real  glory  which 
he  once  had  in  God's  own  prefence.  This  feems  fo 
evidently  to  be  the  fenfe  and  meaning  of  our  Lord  in 
his  prayer,  that  if  perfons  were  not  unacquainted 
with  this  doftrlne  of  the  pre-exiftence  of  the  foul  of 
Chrift,  or  if  they  had  not  fome  prejudice  againft  it, 
one  would  think  that  every  reader  fhould  naturally 
and  neceffarily  take  it  in  this  fenfe. 

That  it  is  the  human  nature  of  Chrift  that  was 
thus  glorified  in  its  pre-exiftent  flate,  may  be  con- 
firmed from  ver.  24.  '  Thou  lovedft  me  before  the 
foundation  of  the  world.'  Now  this  would  be  a 
very  fmdl  thing  for  Chrift  to  fay,  as  to  his  divine 
nature  or  Godhead,  that  the  Father  '  loved  him  be- 
fore the  creation  ;'  but  it  is  great  and  glorious,  and 
every  way  fuitable  to  his  purpofe,  to  be  fpoken  by 
him  as  a  man,  referring  to  his  pre-exiftent  ftate  and 
nature,  for  it  gives  a  grand  idea  of  him  as  the  early 
and  ancient  objeft  of  his  Father's  love. 

Nor  can  this  ancient  love  be  referred  only  to  the 
decree  of  God,  for  this  decretal  love  of  God  may  be 
fpoken  of  the  faints  alfo;  the  Father  loved  them  as 
forefeen  in  his  eternal  decrees  :  whereas  the  plain  de- 
fign  of  Chrift  is,  to  requeft  that  enjoyment  of  divine 
love  for  the  faints  in  their  meafure,  which  he  himfelf 
a<5tually  tafted  and  enjoyed  before  the  foundi^tion  of 
the  world. 

Note  further;  he  does  not  pray  for  the  difclples 
that  they  may  enjoy  fuch  love  as  is  fuppofed  to  be 
peculiar  to  the  internal  diftinftions  in  the  Godhead, 
but  iuch  fort  of  love  in  their  deo;ree  as  he  himfelf 
enjoyed  in  his  pre-exiftent  foul ;  which  expofition 
alio  renders  all  the  latter  verfes  of  this  chapter  more 
intelligible:   ver.  21,  22,  &c.    *  that  they  maybe 

one 


Sect.  III.         of  Chriji's  Human  Son/.  175 

one  as  we  are  one,'  and — *  thou  haft  loved  them  as 
thou  haft  loved  me.*  The  love  which  the  great  God 
bears  to  Chrift  as  Man,  and  the  union  of  Chrift  as 
Man  to  the  Godhead,  is  made  a  pattern  of  the  union 
of  the  iaints  to  God,  and  the  love  of  God  to  them  : 
But  we  can  hardly  fuppofe  the  ineffable,  eternal  and 
eftential,  and  neceflary  union  and  love  between  the 
facred  diftindtions  in  the  Godhead  itfelf,  can  be  a 
pattern  of  the  unneceflary,  uneflential  and  voluntary 
union  and  love  between  God  and  his  faints.  Yet 
the  union  and  love  between  Chrift  as  Man,  and  God 
his  Father,  may  be  made  a  pattern  of  the  love  and 
union  between  God  and  believers ;  though  we  muft 
always  maintain  a  high  fenfe  of  the  unknown  and 
fublime  difference  between  the  union  of  the  Man 
Chrift  to  the  divine  nature,  (or  to  any  particular 
diftinftion  in  it)  and  the  union  of  the  faints  to 
God  :  the  one  is  fo  near,  as  that  what  God  himfelf 
fpeaks  and  does  is  attributed  to  Chrift  ;  but  it 
would  be  blafphemy  to  attribute  this  to  the  beft  of 
faints. 

It  is  a  certain  and  excellent  rule  for  the  interpre- 
tation of  fcripture,  laid  down  by  all  ji^fSicious  men, 
and  particularly  by  a  great  adverfary  of  this  dodrine, 
Dr.  Sherlock,  that  "  we  fliould  never  have  recourfe 
to  a  ftrained  and  metaphorical  fenfe,  but  when  we 
know  that  either  the  nature  of  the  thing,  or  fome 
other  revelation  of  fcripture,  will  not  admit  of  a 
proper  one  ;"  and  that  "  we  muft  underftand  words 
in  a  proper  and  natural  fenfe,  where  there  is  no  ap- 
parent reafon  of  a  figure."  Now  there  is  nothing 
either  in  nature  or  in  fcripture  that  forbids  this  lit- 
eral expofition,  as  will  more  abundantly  appear  in 
the  following  part  of  this  Difcourfe. 

The  fecond  fcripture  I  ftiall  cite  for  this  purpofe, 
to  fliew  that  fome  things  inferior  to  Godhead  are 
afcribcd  to  Chrift  before  and  at  his  incarnation,  is 

in 


iy6  The  early  Exjjience  Disc.  III. 

in  Philip,  ii.  5,  6,  7.  '  Let  this  mind  be  in  you, 
which  wasalfo  in  Chrift  Jeliis,'  ver.  6.  *  who  being 
in  the  form  of  God,  thought  it  not  robbery  to  be 
equal  with  God  ;'  ver.  7.  *  but  made  himfelf  of 
no  rcDutation,*  [suvlov  fxfvwo-e,  which  is  more  exadlly 
tranflated,  /le  emptied  himfelf*)  '  and  took  upon  him 
the  form  of  a  fervant,  being  made  in  the  hkenefs  of 
men,'  as   it    is   in   the   Greek,  rv  o/x&iw/AoJi  a^9pw7^w» 

Here  the  apoftle's  defign  is  to  fet  Chrifl  before 
them  as  a  pattern  of  humility  ;  and  this  he  doth 
by  aggrandizing  his  former  ftate  and  c i re um fiances, 
and  rcprefenting  how  he  '  emptied  himfelf  ot  them, 
and  appeared  on  earth  in  a  very  mean  and  low 
eflate.  Therefore  he  faith,  *  Who  being  in  the 
form  of  God,  thought  it  no  robbery  to  be  equal 
with  God  i'  i.  e.  his  human  foul,  which  is  the  chief 
part  of  the  man,  being  in  union  with  his  Godhead, 
was  vefted  with  a  god-iike  form  and  glory  in  all 
former  ages  ;  thus  he  oftentimes  appeared  to  the 
patriarchs,  as  the  '  Angel  of  the  Lord,*  and  as  '  God* 
or  '  Jehovah,' ,vvith  a  heavenly  brightnefs  about 
him,  or  clpthed  with  the  divine  Shechinah,  the  robe 
of  light,  and  fpake  and  aded  like  God  himfelf. 
This  feems  to  be  the  *•  form  of  God,'  which  the 
apodle  fpeaks  of  ;  nor  '  did  he  think  it  any  rob- 
bery' or  finful  prcfutnption  fo  to  do,  i.  e.  to  appear 
and  aft  as  God,  (ince  he  was  united  to  the  divine 
nature,  and  was  in  that  fenfe  one  with  God  :-f  vet 

^  he 

*  See  Dr.  Goodwin's  expofition  of  this  text  in  a  few  pages 
following. 

f  T  might  have  omitted  the  paraphrafe  of  thefe  words,  *  who 
thought  it  not  robbery  to  be  equal  with  God,'  fince  I  am  conftrain- 
cd  to  confefs  that  I  am  not  fully  fatisficd  in  the  true  meaning  of 
then).  Thofe  who  will  read  with  an  impartial  eye  what  Dr. 
Whitby  has  written  in  his  Annotations  on  this  text,  (even  while 
he  was  zealous  againft  tJic  Arian  dodrincs,  and  took  all  opportuni- 
ties 


Sect,  lit*  of  Ckrijf^s  Human  Soul.  177 

he  emptied  himfelfy  i.  e.  he  divefted  himfelf  of  this 
godlike  form  or  appearance,  this  divine  Sheckinah, 
and  coming  into  flefli,  he  confented  to  be  made  *  in 
the  likenefs  of  other  '  men  ;'  nay,  he  took  upon  him 
*  the  form  of  a  fervant'  inftead  of  the  '  form  of  a 
God,*  i.  e.  inftead  of  the  glorious  veftment  of  light 
in  which  he  once  appeared  and  aded  as  God,  he 
now  came  in  a  mean  fervile  form,  and  *  humbled 
himfelf  even  to  death,*  &c.  as  it  follows. 

Now  that  this  text  is  mod  naturally  interpreted 
concerning  the  pre-exiftent  foul  of  Chrift  and  its  hu- 
miliation, and  not  concerning  the  abafement  of  his 
divine  nature,  will  appear,  if  we  attend  to  thefe 
things. 

I.  It  is  the  chief  defign  of  this  fcripture  to  pro- 
pofe  to  the  Philippians  a  wondrous  example  of  hu- 
mility and  felf-denial.  Now  a  great  and  pious  wri- 
ter 

ties  in  his  Comments  to  refute  them)  and  who  confider  at  the  fams- 
time  what  fenfe  the  ancient  Greek  heathen  writer  Heliodorus  in 
feveral  places,  and  the  Greek  fathers,  generally  put  upon  this  phrafe, 
will  be  ready  to  believe  they  fignify,  that  Chrift  did  not  think  equal- 
ity with  God  to  be  oc^Trocy^ov  a  thing  to  be  feized,  a  thing  to  be 
aflumed  by  him,  he  did  not  think  proper  to  appear  like  God,  or 
aflurne  equality  to  God  in  his  humbled  eftate :  and  fo  this  fentence 
exprefies  one  part  of  his  humility.  On  the  other  hand,  lie  that  pe- 
rufes  what  the  learned  Dr.  Waterland  has  written  in  his  fermon  on 
this  text,  may  be  inclined  to  doubt  of  this  expoCtion  of  Dr.  Whit- 
by and  the  fathers,  and  to  conftrue  thefe  words  as  part  of  the  moft 
exalted  dignity  of  Chrift,  according  to  our  Englifh  tranflation  ; 
though  Dr.  Waterland  himfelf  does  not  deny  that  the  ancient  Greek 
writer  Heliodorus,  and  moft  of  the  ancient  fathers,  expounded  it  iu 
the  fenfe  which  Dr.  Whitby  gives  of  it. 

However,  I  have  here  followed  our  Englifh  tranflation,  and  para- 
phrafed  it  as  expreffive  of  Chrift's  moft  exalted  charader  and  God- 
head, that  it  may  evidently  appear  that  the  other  parts  of  this  verfe 
are  moft  happily  applied  to  the  pre-exlftence  and  the  incarnation  of 
the  human  foul  of  Chrift,  even  though  thefe  controverted  words 
fhould  be  referred  to  his  divine  nature :  and  that  this  dodrine  of 
Chrift's  pre-exiftent  foul  does  not  want  any  change  in  the  common 
Englifli  tranflation,  nor  the  fenfe  of  this  phrafe  to  be  altered  in  or- 
4er  to  fupport  it. 

M 


178  The  early  Exijlence  Disc.  III. 

ter  of  this  age  has  obferved,  that  we  never  find  the 
divine  nature,  or  Godhead,  propounded  to  us  as  an 
example  of  felf-denial  or  humiHty  in  all  the  bible  ; 
though  God  commands  our  conformity  to  himfelf, 
in  holincfs,  love  and  beneficence.  Therefore  it  mud 
be  fome  inferior  nature,  or  Chrifl's  human  foul  is 
propofed  as  an  example  of  humility,  and  felf-denial  ; 
and  a  glorious  example  it  was,  when  it  divefi;ed  itfelf 
of  fuch  a  godlike  form,  and  fuch  a  pre-exiftent  glory. 

2.  Chrift's  *  being  in  the  form  of  God,'  cannot 
here  neceflarily  fignify  his  Godhead,  becaufe  it  is  rep- 
refented  as  inconfifl:ent  with  the  fiiate  of  his  humilia- 
tion J  for  he  feems  to  put  off  this  *  form  of  God/ 
or  he  tmptied  himfelf  of  it,  and  put  on  the  op- 
pofite  form,  viz.  the  *  form  of  a  fervant,'  when  he 
became  incarnate,  or  was  *  made  in  the  likenefs  of 
men.'  But  it  is  plain  that  he  could  not  put  off  his 
Godhead  when  he  became  incarnate  :  therefore  it 
muft  refer  to  his  human  foul  vi'hich  was  in  the 
*  form  of  God,'  or  which  made  thefe  god-like  ap- 
pearances before  his  incarnation,  and  he  put  off  this 
divine  form,  when  he  took  on  him  '  the  fafliion  of 
•a  man,'  and  the  '  form  of  a  fervant.' 

Befides,  the  *  form  of  God'  can  never  be  proved  to 
fignify  Kis  divine  nature  in  this  place  j  for  there  is 
no  expreffion  like  it  in  fcripture,  that  fignifies  proper 
divinity.  Nor  indeed  does  f/uo^<^'n  properly  fignify 
nature  or  ejfence  any  where  in  the  bible,  that  I  can 
find,  but  only  appearance^  JJiape  or  likenefs.  See  the 
large  citation  out  of  Dr.  Thomas  Goodwin,  within  a 
few  pages  following. 

Obferve  alfo  that  the  *  form  of  God'  fl;ands  here 
exprefsly  oppbfed  to  the  '  form  of  a  fervant  :'  now 
Chrift  was  not  diredly  and  exprefsly  in  the  condi- 
tion of  a  fervant  in  the  civil  life  here  on  earth, 
though  he  "  condefcended  to  perform  fervile  offices 
upon  fome  occafions  ;    but  at  the  fame  time  he 

claimed 


Sect.  III.         ef  Chriji^s  Human  Sou/.  179 

claimed  the  authority  of  a  mafler,  over  thofe  very 
perfons  for,  or  towards  whom  he  performed  fervile 
offices  :  the  condition  of  our  Saviour  therefore, 
whilft  on  earth,  though  it  was  always  mean,  yet  was 
not  properly  that  of  a  fervant  ;  and  confequently, 
lince  his  being  in  the  form  of  a  fervant  cannot  poffi- 
bly  fignify  more  than  his  acting  fometimes  as  a  fer- 
vant, though  he  was  not  fuch  by  condition  of  life, 
it  is  plain  that  his  being  in  the  form  of  God  cannot 
poffibly  fignify  his  being  by  nature  the  very  God.'* 
(But  rather  his  appearing  fometimes  heretofore  and 
acting  as  God.)  So  Dr.  Bennet  on  the  Trinity, 
Chap.  vii.  p.  45 — 50.  who  is  a  zealous  defender  of 
the  deity  of  Chrift  againft  Dr.  Clarke. 

3.  Confider  further,  it  feems  to  be  that  fame 
nature  emptied  iffe/f  which  was  afterwards  filled  with 
glory  as  a  recompenfe  :  and  it  is  the  fame  nature 
that  is  faid  to  humble  itfelf,  which  was  afterwards 
highly  exalted  by  God  :  now  this  was  not  the  di- 
vine nature  of  Chrift,  but  the  human  ;  therefore 
it  muft  be  the  human  nature  of  Chrift  that  emptied 
itfelf  in  this  text  :  becaufe  it  appears  very  incon- 
gruous for  the  apoftle  to  fay,  that  the  divine  na- 
ture emptied  and  abafed  itfelf,  and  that  th^  human 
nature  was  exalted  as  a  recompenfe  of  this  abafe- 
ment. 

I  grant  it  was  great  condefcenfion  in  the  divine 
nature  of  Chrift  to  unite  itfelf  to  a  creature,  fucK 
as  the  human  foul  of  Chrift  was,  how  glorious  fo- 
ever  that  creature  might  be  ;  and  it  is  yet  greater 
condefcenfion  in  the  Godhead  of  our  Lord  Jefus 
Chrift,  thus  united  to  the  human  foul  to  take  hu- 
man flefh  upon  it,  or  flefli  in  union  with  that  foul, 
and  for  God  himfelf  to  be  thus  *  manifefted  in  the 
flefh  :'  and  in  my  judgment  the  infinite  merit  of 
his  fufferings  arifes  from  the  union  of  his  divine  na- 
ture to  the  foul,  and  therebv  to  the  body  of  the 
M  2  '  Man 


I  So  The  early   'Exijlr.ice  t)isc.  III. 

Man  Jefus :  but  this  does  not  feem  to  be  the  pre- 
cife  mCvining  of  the  apoflle  in  this  place  ;  for  he 
rather  fets  before  us  an  example  of  the  humility  of 
the  Man  Jefus  Chrifh,  who  exifted  as  a  fpirit  pef- 
fonally  united  to  God,  or  one  with  God  in  all  form- 
er ages,  and  was  dred  in  glories  fuitable  to  this 
union  ;  yet  he  laid  afide  thole  glories,  and  waved  the 
refplendence  of  his  character  and  perfon,  when  he 
joined  himfelf  to  fleOi  and  blood  :  he  laid  aGde  the 
god -like  forms  and  appearances,  which  perhaps  he 
had  worn  both  in  heaven  and  on  earth  in  times  pad, 
and  emptied  himfelf  \N\\tn  he  came  now  into  the  world 
to  be  incarnate,  i.  e.  when  he  came  into  the  com- 
plete '  likenefs  and  fafhion  of  a  man  ;'  for  he  appear- 
ed in  a  mean  form,  like  a  fervant,  and  *  humbled 
himfelf  even  to  the  curfed  death  of  the  crofs.' 

Left  any  of  my  readers  Ihould  be  offended  with 
myexpofition  of  this  text,  I  will  here  add  Dr.  Tho- 
mas Goodwin's  interpretation  of  it.  Vol.  III.  Book 
iii.  Chap.  vii.  p.  io6.  "That  nature  or  creature 
which  the  Son  of  God  (ball  affume  (be  it  man  or 
angel)  muft  by  inheritance  exift  in  '  the  form  of 
God,'  Phil.  ii.  6,  7.  which  *  form  of  God'  I  here 
take  not  to  be  put  for  the  eflence  of  God,  neither 
is  the  *  Form  of  a  fervant'  taken  for  the  nature  of  a 
man.  The  '  form  of  God'  here  is  that  god-like  glo- 
ry, and  that  manifeftation  of  the  Godhead  which 
was,  and  muft  needs  be  due,  to  appear  in  the  nature 
aflumed  :  for  form  is  put  for  outward  appearance 
and  manifeftation,  in  refpe£l  of  which,  Chrift  as  God- 
Man  is  called  the  '  brightnefs  of  his  Father's  glory,* 
Heb.  i.  2.  Brightnefs  you  know  is  not  the  fub- 
ftance  of  the  light,  but  the  appearance  of  it.  And 
in  this  refpe(5V  Chrift,  God-Man,  may  be  faid  in  a 
fafe  fcnfe  to  be  equal  with  God,  as  here  in  the  text ; 
not  in  eflcnce,  but  in  a  communication  of  privileges, 
that  as  God  hath  Ufc  in  himfelf  alone,  (which  is  a 

royalty 


Sect.  III.         of  Chri/s  Human  Soul.  iSr 

royalty  incommunicable  to  any  mere  creature)  fo 
this  Son  of  Man,  when  once  united  unto  the  God- 
headj  is  alfo  faid  *  to  have  life  in  himlelf  /  John  v. 
26.  this  equality,  or  »(ro7t]?,  not  being  to  be  under- 
ftood  of  equality  in  proportion,  but  of  likenefs ;  his 
privileges  were  fuch  by  the  union  with  the  fecond 
perfon,  that  he  had  a  true  kind  of  partnerfhip  with 
God  the  Father  in  his  privileges,  and  fuch  as  did 
arife  to  a  likenefs,  though  not  to  an  eflential  equal- 
ity." And  Chap.  viii.  p.  no.  he  adds,  "The 
firft  ingredient  into  the  fatisfadtion  of  Chrift  lies  in 
the  laying  afide  the  glory  due  to  the  fecond  perfon, 
when  he  (hould  dwell  in  an  human  nature,  and  in- 
ftead  thereof  taking  on  him  the  'form  of  a  fervant.' 
God  will  have  him  emptied,  the  Meffiah  fhall  have 
nothing  left,  not  a  grain  or  mite  of  the  riches  of  his 
glory."  And  in  Vol.  II.  Of  the  knozvledge  of  God, 
Book  iii.  p.  201.  he  adds,  "  He  that  had  all  fulnefs 
had  nothing  left,  no  comfort  in  God  or  in  any  crea- 
ture :  he  might  fay  as  Naomi  faith,  T/ie  Lord  hath 
dealt  bitterly  with  me,  I  came  from  heaven  full,  hut  he 
hr ought  me  to  earth  empty,  and  emptied  of  all.*'' 
Thus  far  that  eminent  and  pious  writer. 

But  after  all,  if  any  humble  Qiriftians  fhould  be 
afraid  to  admit  my  expofition  of  this  text,  (which  is 
fo  plain  and  natural)  left  they  fhould  feem  to  weaken 
one  fuppofed  proof  of  the  divinity  of  Chrift,  yet  the 
next  fcripture  is  as  plain  for  my  purpofe,  and  will 
lead  into  no  fuch  danger. 

And  that  is,  2  Cor.  viii.  9.  'Ye  krtow  the  grace 
of  our  Lord  Jefus  Chrift,  that  though  he  was  rich, 
yet  for  your  fakes  he  became  poor,  that  you  through 
his  poverty  might  be  made  rich.* 

I  know  not  how  this  can  be  well  interpreted  any 
other  way  than  by  fuppofing  our  Lord  Jefus  Chrift 
as  Man,  or  his  human  foul  to  pre-exift  in  a  former 
ftate,  wherein  '  he  was  rich'  indeed,  and  endowed 

with 


jSz  The  early  Exijlence  Disc.  III. 

with  many  real  glories  and  privileges ;  and  yet  he 
divefted  himfelf  of  them,  and  '  became  poor  for  our 
fakes,'  when  he  became  incarnate,  a  helplefs  infant 
who  lay  in  a  manger,  and  was  the  fon  of  a  carpenter. 

It  cannot  be  laid  of  God,  or  the  divine  nature, 
that  he  *  became  poor,'  who  is  infinitely  felf-fuffi- 
cient,  and  who  is  neceflarily  and  eternally  rich  in 
perfcftions  and  glories,  and  in  the  indefeafible  pof- 
fclTion  of  all  things :  nor  can  it  be  faid  of  Chrift  as 
I\'Ian,  that  he  ever  '  was  rich,'  if  he  were  never  in  a 
richer  ftate  before  than  while  he  was  here  on  earth  : 
for  during  that  time  he  was  always  extremely  poor ; 
*  the  Son  of  Man  had  not  where  to  lay  his  head  :' 
and  he  could  not  be  in  a  richer  ftate  as  man  before, 
if  nothing  of  this  manhood  exifled  before  his  in' 
carnation. 

But  if  to  evade  this  any  one  will  fay,  that  he  was 
rich  as  God,  and  became  poor  as  man  ;  bifhop 
Fowler  anlwers,  that  this  is  "  fuch  a  ftrain  and  force 
upon  the  words  of  fcripturc,  that  it  looks  like  laying 
hold  upon  any  thing  to  help  at  a  dead  lift." 

It  appears  then  that  our  Lord  Jefus  Chrift  really 
emptied  himfelf  of  fome  peculiar  glories  that  be- 
longed to  him,  and  which  he  pofleffed  in  a  pre-ex- 
irtent  ftate  before  he  came  to  dwell  in  our  world, 
and  to  take  flelli  upon  him. 

But  I  know  and  lament  the  unhappy  force  of 
prejudice.  I  have  felt  and  feel  it  too  often,  and 
therefore  wonder  not  at  other  men.  A  mind  pre- 
engaged  cannot  eafily  yield  to  the  force  of  plain  ex- 
preflions  and  the  literal  fenfe  of  fcripture  ;  therefore 
ioiTiQ  will  fay,  that  Chrift,  as  God-Man,  in  the  be- 
ginning of  the  union  of  the  two  natures,  emptied 
or  divefted  himfelf  of  the  riches  and  glory  which  he 
fliould  have  had,  and  which  were  his  dejure,  though 
not  de  fa5io  ;  i.  e.  which  he  might  juftly  have  alium- 
ed  and  pofleffed,  though  he  did  not  actually  aliume 

and 


Sect.  III.         of  Chriji's  Human  SvuL  183 

and  poirefs  them.  But  I  reply,  Why  fhould  this 
icripture  be  fo  ftrained,  fiiice  this  cannot  be  the  fenfc 
of  other  fcriptures  which  are  parallel  to  this  ?  par- 
ticularly John  xvii.  5.  which  fpeaks  exprefsly  of 
glory  which  Chrift  had  with  the  Father  before  the 
world  was.  And  as  for  the  other  texts,  viz.  Philip. 
ii.  and  2  Cor.  viii.  they  intimate  more  than  a  mere 
right  to  glorious  riches,  and  plainly  refer  to  a  form- 
er aftual  pofleflion  of  thofe  riches  and  glories  of 
which  he  adually  difpofleffed  himfelf.  This  is  the 
mod  hteral  and  obvious  fenfe  of  the  apoftle,  nor 
fhould  we  ftrain  it  to  a  tropical  meaning  without 
evident  neceffity. 

The  whole  current  of  fcripture  (as  well  as  thefe 
particular  texts)  feems  to  lead  us  fo  naturally  into 
this  fentiment,  that  divines  are  frequently  ready  to 
defcribe  God  the  Father  as  parting  with  his  only 
Son  out  of  his  bofom,  when  he  took  flefh  upon 
him  :  and  they  reprefent  Chrift,  or  the  Son  of  God 
when  he  became  incarnate,  as  leaving  the  bofom  of 
his  Father,  quitting  the  felicities  of  the  upper  world, 
laying  by  his  glorious  eftate,  and  parting  with  heav- 
en for  a  fcafon,  &c.  which  language  cannot  be  true 
nor  proper  when  it  is  applied  to  the  Godhead  of 
Chrift ;  but  would  moft  appofitely  denote  and  ex- 
prefs  the  real  humiliation  of  his  pre-exiftent  foul. 

Conjicl.  III.  That  very  being  which  came  down 
from  heaven  and  was  fent  of  God  into  the  world, 
is  reprefented  as  capable  of  having  a  will  different 
from  the  will  of  God  the  Father,  and  therefore  it 
mud  be  inferior  to  Godhead  :  now  this  could  be  no 
other  but  the  will  of  his  human  fouL 

Our  Lord  Jefus  declares,  that  he  *  came  down 
from  heaven,  not  to  do  his  own,  but  his  Father's 
will.'  John  vi.  38.  It  is  manifeft  here  that  the  very 
fame  being  which  came  down  from  heaven,  fought 
not  by  his  defccnt  to  fulfil  his  own  will,  but  his 
Father's.  .  Now 


1 84  T^he  early  Exijlence  Disc.  III. 

Now  it  is  evident  that  at  his  agonies  and  paflion 
he  had  fuch  a  will  different  from  the  will  of  his  Fa- 
ther, when  he  manifefts  an  innocent  relu6lance  of 
human  nature  at  firft,  but  afterward  fays,  '  Father, 
not  my  will,  but  thy  will  be  done  ;'  and  you  fee  he 
ufes  the  fame  fort  of  language  to  exprefs  his  incarna- 
tion and  miffion,  though  without  any  reluftancc. 
*  I  came  down  from  heaven,  not  to  do  mine  own 
will,  but  the  will  of  him  that  fent  me.'  Now  would 
it  not  found  very  harfh  to  fuppofe  the  Godhead  of 
Chrift  faying,  *  I  came  down  from  heaven,  not  to  do 
mine  own  will,  but  the  will  of  him  that  fent  me,' 
when  it  is  utterly  and  eternally  impofllble  that  the 
Godhead  of  Chrift  fhould  have  any  will  different 
from  God  the  Father  ? 

It  is  in  the  fame  manner  that  our  Lord  fpeaks  in 
prophecy  concerning  himfelf,  Pfal.  xl.  8.  *  I  delight 
to  do  thy  will,  O  my  God  ;  yea,  thy  law  is  within 
my  heart.'  Now  that  this  refers  to  his  incarnation 
in  an  efpecial  manner,  we  may  learn  from  the  epiftle 
to  the  Hebrews,  where  this  prophecy  is  cited  and  ex- 
plained, chap.  X.5.  '  When  he  cometh  into  the  world, 
he  faith.  Sacrifice  and  burnt-offering  thou  wouldft 
not,  but  a  body  haft  thou  prepared  me  ;  lo  I  come 
to  do  thy  will,  O  God.'  This  feems  to  be  the 
proper  language  of  his  human  foul,  and  not  of  pure 
Godhead. 

Thofe  who  refufe  to  expound  this  concerning 
Chrift's  pre-exiftent  foul,  apply  it  to  his  inferior  and 
delegated  charader  as  Mediator,  and  as  the  Father's 
fervant  employed  in  this  great  errand.  But  I  ap- 
peal to  every  one  who  reads  the  words,  whether  this 
language  does  not  naturally  feem  much  rather  to  be- 
long to  an  inferior  being,  than  to  the  eternal  God- 
head affuming  an  inferior  character. 

Confid.  IV.  Chrift  reprefcnts  his  own  coming  in- 
to the  world,  and  being  fent  hither  by  the  Father, 

in 


Sect.  III.         of  CJiri/s  Human  Soul.  185 

in  fuch  a  manner  as  naturally  leads  one  to  fuppofe 
he  had  a  real  and  proper  dwelling  in  another  place* 
and  in  .another  manner  before  he  came  into  this 
world,  and  that  he  then  changed  his  place  and  com- 
pany and  manner  of  life  ;  all  which  feem  more  agree- 
able to  a  human  fpirit  than  to  a  divine  perfon. 

The  mere  repetition  of  our  Saviour's  own  lan- 
guage in  feveral  fcriptures  would  naturally  lead  one 
to  thefe  ideas.  John  vi.  38.  '  I  came  down  from 
heaven,  not  to  do  mine  own  will,  bat  the  will  of 
him  that  fent  me.'  Ver.  51.  '  I  am  the  living 
bread  which  came  down  from  heaven,'  in  imitation 
of  the  manna  which  came  from  the  clouds. 
Ver.  62.  *  What  and  if  ye  fh all  fee  the  Son  of  Man 
afcend  up  where  he  was  before  V-f  John  viii.  14. 
*  I  know  whence  I  came,  and  whither  I  go.' 

John  xvi.  28.  *I  came  forth  from  the  Father, 
and  am  come  into  the  world  :  again,  I  leave  the 
world,  and  go  to  the  Father.  In  which  words,  his 
being  with  the  Father,  and  his  being  in  the  world, 
feem  to  be  two  oppofite  ftates,  and  are  reprefented 
as  inconfiftent  with  each  other  in  that  fenfe  in  which 
Chrift  fpeaks  of  his  Father's  company  and  abfence ; 

but 

*  I  do  not  here  enter  into  that  phllofophical  queftion,  whether 
feparate  fouls  have  proper  places  or  not,  or  any  local  motion,  but  I 
fpeak  after  the  common  manner  of  fpeech,  and  the  language  of 
fcripture. 

f  Some  may  objeft  agalnft  this  text,  and  fay,  that  it  cannot 
mean  that  the  human  foul  afcended  where  it  was  before,  for  the 
human  foul  in  its  pre-exiftent  ftate  cannot  be  called  the  *  Son  of 
Man.'  I  anfwer,  i.  That  the  name,  *  Son  of  Man,'  ordinarily  fig- 
nifies  no  more  than  man,  or  fome  confiderable  man,  and  when  ap. 
plied  to  Chrift,  it  means  the  Mefliah.  2.  It  is  at  leaft  a  more  proj)- 
er  term  to  fignify  Chrift's  human  foul,  than  it  is  to  fignify  his  di- 
vine nature,  and  to  fay,  '  What  if  ye  fhall  fee  the  Son  of  Man,'  i.  e. 
the  human  nature,  *  afcend  where  the  Son  of  Man,'  i.  e.  the  di- 
rine  nature,  '  was  before  ?'  And  yet  this  muft  be  the  expofition  of 
the  place,  if  Chrift  had  no  pre-exiftent  foul,  and  I  am  Aire  this  is 
much  harder  and  more  catachreftical  than  the  fenfe  I  have  given. 


iS6  The  early  Extjlence  Disc.  III. 

but  the  pure  divine  nature  can  hardly  be  reprefent- 
ed  as  abfcnt  from  the  Father,  even  while  it  refides 
in  this  world,  nor  as  returning  to  him  afterwards. 

Let  it  be  noted  alio,  that  as  foon  as  Chrift  had 
fpokc  thefe  v;ords,  his  difciples  anfwer,  'Lo,  now  thou 
fpeakcft  plainly,  and  fpeakeft  no  parable  ;'  i.  e.  there 
is  no  ditnculty  or  obfcurity  in  thefe  words.  No  enig- 
matical or  allegorical  fpeech  (faith  Beza.)  But  fure- 
iy  there  is  difficulty  and  obfcurity  in  tliem,  if  we 
mud  conftrue  them  by  figures,  and  not  in  the  ob- 
vious fenfc  ;  efpecially  if  his  *  coming  from  the  Fa- 
ther,' i.  e.  as  God,  muft  be  taken  in  a  figurative 
fenfc,  and  his  going  to  the  Father,  i.  e.  as  man,  in  a 
literal. 

•There  are  other  exprcffions  of  fcripture  to  the 
fame  purpofe.  John  iii.  13.  '  No  man  hath  afcend- 
ed  up  to  heaven,  but  he  that  came  down  from  heav- 
en, even  the  Son  of  Man,  who  is,'  or  was,  *  in  heav- 
en,' as  the  Greek  particle  icv  may  be  properly  inter- 
preted in  the  time  pad  or  prefent ;  and  thus  it  may 
be  confiirued  to  fignify  either  the  divinity  of  Chrift, 
or  rather  his  pre-exidcnt  foul.* 

John 

*  This  text  is  feized  by  the  Socinians,  and  preft  by  them  to 
fupport  their  invention  of  Chrift's  afcending  locally  to  heaven  af- 
ter his  baptifm,  there  to  receive  more  complete  inftrudions  from 
Grod.  But  the  learned  Mr.  Fleming  replies  thus — "  There  can 
be  no  jufl  inierence  from  his  denying  the  Jews  to  have  afcended 
into  heaven,  that  he  had  afcended  thither  himfelf,  any  more  than 
jf  a  native  of  Japan  (hould  come  now  to  England,  and  fpeak  to  us 
after  this  manner ;  Ye  have  rcafon  to  believe  what  I  fay  of  my 
own  country,  for  I  fpeak  what  I  hare  feen  there,  and  do  exaflly 
know  it.  And  none  of  you  did  ever  go  to  Japan,  excepting  me 
only,  v,'ho  have  my  (original)  refidence  there,  and  am  a  native  of 
the  place,  and  am  come  from  thence  hither.  Would  thefe  words 
rcceflarily  infer,  that  he  muft  have  gone  from  England  to  Japan  be- 
fore he  came  from  thence,  becaufe  perhaps  the  connexion  of  the 
wordy  does  not  ran  in  our  ufual  mode  of  fpeaking  ;"  Thus  that 
Author. 

I  might 


Sect.  III.         of  Chrifs  Human  S011L  187 

John  iii.  31.  'He  that  is  of  the  earth  is  earthly, 
and  fpeaketh  of  the  earth.  He  that  cometh  from 
heaven  is  above  alL'  John  xiii.  3.  '  Jefus  knowing 
that  he  was  come  from  God,  and  was  going  to  God.' 
Eph.  iv.  9,  10.  '  Now  that  he  afcended,  what  is  it, 
but  that  he  alfo  defcended  firft  into  the  lower  parts 
of  the  earth  V  This  perhaps  may  be  better  interpret- 
ed concerning  his  defcent  into  the  womb  of  the  vir- 
gin, than  into  the  grave,  for  David  ufes  the  fame  ex- 
preffion,  Pfal.  cxxxix.  15.  where  he  (ays,  '  His  fub- 
ftance  was  made  in  fecret,  and  curioufly  v/rought  in 
the  lowed  parts  of  the  earth.'  Befides,  it  was  the 
foul  of  Chrifl  that  defcended  from  heaven,  but  not 
into  the  grave.  '  Now,'  faith  the  apoftle,  '  he  that 
defcended  thus,  is  the  fame  alfo  that  afcended  up  far 
above  all  heavens  ;'  i.  e.  the  foul  defcended  to  af- 
fume  a  body,  and  then  being  embodied,  it  afcended 
above  the  heavens. 

ObjeEl.  There  are  expreffions  in  the  Old  Tefla- 
ment  which  reprefent  God  as  '  coming  down  upon 
earth'  to  vifit  the  affairs  of  men;  and  in  this  ana- 
logical fenfe  the  Godhead  of  Chrift  may  be  faid  to 
afcend  and  defcend,  fo  that  thefe  words  need  not  to 
be  applied  to  any  pre-exiflent  foul  of  Chrift. 

Anjw.  I.    When  this  manner  of  fpeech   is  ufed 
concerning  God,  it  mufh  be  interpreted  figuratively 
or  analogically,  becaufe  the  literal  fenfe  cannot  be. 
true :    but  where  the  literal  fenfe  is  juft  and  plain 
und  eafy,  there  is  no  need  to  run  to  figures. 

AnJw.  2.  Let  it  be  noted  alfo,  that  when  God  is 
faid  to  '  defcend  from  heaven,'  or  '  afcend  thither'  in 

the 

I  might  fubjoin  alfo,  that  the  exaltation  of  Chrift's  human  foul 
to  the  heavenly  world  immediately  upon  its  firft  exiftence  may  be^ 
well  enough  called  an  afcent  into  heaven,  when  it  is  evident  that 
the  fcripture  ufes  many  expreffions  as  diftant  as  this  is  from  their 
grammatical  meaning,  in  order  to  form  a  paronomajia  or  chime  of 
words,  with  an  antithefis  of  fenfe,  which  v/ere  Eaftern  beauties  of 
fpeech. 


1 8  8  The  early  Exijfence  D  i  s  c .  II  I. 

the  Old  Tcftament,  perhaps  it  is  To  exprefled  to 
fhew  that  this  God  is  Jefus  Chrifl:,  or  the  human 
foul  of  Chrifl:,  united  to  the  Godhead  in  the  pre- 
exiftent  flate,  (as  fhall  be  fhovvn  hereafter)  b)^  whofe 
fervice  God  the  Father  managed  a  thoufand  affairs 
of  the  ancient  ages,  and  more  efpecially  fuch  as  had 
any  relation  to  the  welfare  of  the  church,  or  the 
holy  feed. 

Anfw.  3.  But  bcfides,  when  we  confider  the  fre- 
quency of  thefe  expreffions,  *  Chrift's  coming  down 
from  heaven,'  '  coming  from  the  Father,  and  coming 
into  this  world,'  they  feem  to  bear  a  plain  and  juft 
antithefis  to  his  '  departing  from  the  world,'  his  *  re- 
turning to  the  Father,'  his  '  afcending  into  heaven,* 
which  are  mentioned  at  the  fame  time  :  now  all 
thefe  latter  expreffions  are  plainly  underftood  by  eve- 
ry reader  concerning  the  human  nature  of  Chrift, 
and  give  us  good  ground  to  infer  that  the  former 
expreffions  concerning  his  defcent  from  heaven 
fhould  be  attributed  to  his  human  nature  too  ;  that 
is,  to  his  human  foul,  which  is  the  chief  part  of  it. 

Under  this  head,  bifhop  Fowler  adds  for  a  fur- 
ther proof  of  it,  1  Cor.  xv.  47.  '  The  firft  man  is  of 
the  earth,  earthy  ;  the  fecond  man  is  the  Lord  from 
heaven  ;'  *'  Which  (fays  he)  the  apoftle  fpeaks  of 
Chrift's  original  in  oppofition  to  Adam's  thus ;  his 
foul  was  created  on  earth,  a  body  being  made  out  of 
the  earth  for  it  j  but  the  foul  of  Chrift  was  created 
in  heaven,  (and  therefore  he  is  called  *  the  Lord 
from  heaven.')  This  is  abundantly  more  intelligi- 
ble (to  me  at  leaft)  than  how  the  eternal  Word  fhould 
come  down  from  heaven,  otherwife  than  as  in  union 
with  the  foul  of  Chrift  ;  fmce  the  eternal  Word  ever 
filled  all  things  with  his  prefence,  and  therefore  could 
never  for  a  moment  leave  heaven,"  i.  e.  really  and 
properly,  but  only  in  an  analogical  fenfe. 

I  add 


Sect.  III.         of  Chrifs  Human  Soul.  1S9 

I  add  alfo,  that  the  following  words  confirm  this 
fenfe.  Ver.  49.  *  As  we  have  borne  the  image  of 
the  earthy,  we  fliall  alfo  bear  the  image  of  the  heav- 
enly ;'  i.  e.  our  fouls  are  made  now  on  earth  and 
joined  to  bodies,  to  frail  and  feeble  bodies,  capable 
of  difeafe  and  corruption,  as  was  the  foul  of  Adam, 
which  was  made  on  earth  after  his  body  was  formed  : 
but  as  the  foul  of  Chrift  came  down  from  heaven^ 
and  aflumed  a  body  upon  earth,  fo  the  fouls  of  the 
faints  at  the  refurredlion  (hall  come  down  from  heav- 
en, and  aflume  their  immortal  bodies  upon  earth  : 
and  in  this  fenfe  Chrift  the  fecond  Adam,  the  '  Lord 
from  heaven,'  is  the  pattern  of  the  faints  refurredion 
much  rather  than  the  firft ;  and  the  parallel  which 
the  apoftle  reprefents  of  our  bearing  the  image  of 
the  earthy  and  the  heavenly  Adam,  is  much  more 
juft,  perfedl  and  natural,  if  we  take  in  this  part  of  the 
refemblance  as  well  as  others. 

Some  would  conftrue  tliefe  w^ords,  *  the  Lord 
from  heaven,'  to  fignify  the  divine  nature  of  Chrift. 
But  let  it  be  obferved,  that  the  apoftle's  defign  here 
is  only  to  ftiow  how  the  Man  Chrift  Jefus  Ihall  be 
the  pattern  of  faints  raifed  in  glory  ;  and  it  is  no 
part  of  his  purpofe  here  to  reprefent  faints  as  bear- 
ing the  image  of  God,  or  his  divine  nature,  but  only 
the  image  of  his  glorified  human  nature  ;  and  there- 
fore thele  glorious  exprefTions  rather  refer  to  his  hu- 
man foul. 

Now  put  all  thefe  things  together,  and  we  can 
hardly  fuppofe  our  blelTed  Lord  or  his  apoftles 
Ihould  exprefs  his  real  and  proper  human  defcent 
from  heaven  in  plainer  words  than  thofe  which  have 
been  cited,  or  in  words  more  fitted  to  lead  every 
common  reader  into  this  plain  and  eafy  fenfe. 

To  conclude  this  Section,  if  the  moft  natural  and 
obvious  fenfe  of  fcripture  leads  us  to  believe,  that 
there  was  a  glorious  being  who  is  fometimes  called 

an 


190  The  early  Exijtence  Disc.  III. 

nn  angel,  and  fometimes  a  man  under  the  Old  Tef- 
tament,  who  was  clothed  with  peculiar  rays  of  glorj--, 
and  affumed  divine  prerogatives,  and  yet  in  other 
parts  of  his  charafler  and  condu6l  appears  much  in- 
ferior to  the  majcfty  of  pure  Godhead  ;  and  that  this 
illuftrious  being  emptied  and  divcfted  himfelf  of  his 
peculiar  riches  and  glory  when  he  came  to  dwell  in 
flelh  ;  that  he  was  capable  of  having  a  will  different 
from  the  will  of  his  Father,  as  appears  in  thofe  words 
of  his,  '  Father,  not  my  will,  but  thy  will  be  done  ;' 
and  that  he  did  really  leave  his  dwelling  with  the 
Father,  and  com  down  into  our  world  ;  I  know 
not  to  what  fubjeft  all  this  can  be  fo  well  appHed 
as  to  the  human  foul  of  Chrifh,  and  its  exiftence  be- 
fore his  incarnation. 

SECT.      IV. 

Mifcellaneous  Arguments  to  prove  the  fame  Doctrine. 

X  HOUGH  the  confiderations  already  offered  car- 
ry with  them  a  good  force  of  argument,  yet  all 
the  reafons  which  fupport  the  do6trine  of  Chrift's 
pre-exiflent  foul  cannot  be  reduced  to  one  general 
head.  There  are  feveral  others  which  are  not  fo  ea- 
fily  ranged  under  any  head,  that  give  their  affiftance 
to  this  work  ;  and  therefore  I  call  them  mifcellane- 
ous, and  propofe  them  thus. 

Argument  I.  It  feems  needful  that  the  foul  of 
Chrift  Ihould  be  pre-exiftent,  that  it  might  have  op- 
portunity to  give  its  previous  adual  confent  to  the 
great  and  painful  undertaking  of  atonement  for  our 
Kins. 

It  was  the  human  foul  of  Chrift  that  endured  all 
the  weaknefs,  poverty  and  pain  of  his  infant  ftate, 

that 


Sect.  IV.         of  Ckrijl's  Human  Son!,  19I 

that  fuftained  tali  the  labours  and  fatigues  of  life, 
that  felt  the  bitter  reproaches  of  men,  and  the 
fufferings  of  a  Ihameful  and  bloody  death,  as  well 
as  the  buffetings  of  devils,  and  the  painful  inflic- 
tions of  the  juftice  of  God.  This  is  evident,  for 
neither  the  divine  nature,  nor  the  mere  flefli  or 
body  abftradlly  confidered,  are  capable  of  pain  nor 
(hame  without  the  human  foul.  Surely  then  it 
feems  to  be  requifite  that  the  foul  of  Chrifl:  fliouid 
give  its  aftualfree  confent  to  this  undertaking  before 
his  labours,  pains  or  forrows  began,  which  was  as 
foon  as  ever  he  was  born. 

One  cannot  but  think  It  very  congruous  and 
highly  reafonable,  that  he  who  was  to  undergo  fo 
much  for  our  fakes  fliould  not  be  taken  from  his 
childhood  in  a  mere  paflive  manner  into  this  diffi- 
cult and  tremendous  work,  and  afterwards  only  give 
his  confent  to  it  when  he  was  grown  up  a  man,  upoa 
a  fecret  divine  intimation  that  he  was  born  for  this 
purpofe.  It  looks  moft  likely  and  condecent  in  re- 
fped:  of  the  nature  of  things,  and  the  juftice  of 
God,  that  Chrift's  human  foul  which  endured  all 
the  pains,  fhould  well  know  beforehand  what  the 
glorious  work  of  mediation  would  coft  him,  and 
that  he  fhould  voluntarily  accept  the  propofal  from 
the  Father  :  otherwife  it  rather  feems  a  taflc  impof- 
cd  upon  him,  than  an  original  and  voluntary  en- 
gagement of  his  own  :  whereas  fuch  an  impoiition 
would  feem  to  diminifli  the  merit  and  glory  of  this 
noble  undertaking,  and  is  alfo  contrary  to  fcripture 
in  itfelf.  , 

But  if  we  fuppofe  the  human  foul  (united  to  the 
divine  nature  at  its  firft  creation,  and  being  thereby 
fully  capacitated  for  this  amazing  work)  receiving 
the  propofal  with  cheerfulnefs  from  God  his  Father 
from  the  foundation  of  the  world,  and  then  from 
an  iifward  delight  to  glorify  his  Father,  and  from  a 

compaffionate 


i()z  The  early  Ex'iftencC  Disc.  III. 

compaflTionatc  principle  to  the  childrpn  of  men,  un- 
dertaking this  difficult  and  bloody  fervicc,  and  com- 
ing down  into  a  human  body  to  fulfil  it  j  this  high- 
ly exalts  the  merit  of  his  love,  and  the  condefcend- 
ing  glory  of  his  labours  and  his  fufferings. 

And  indeed  this  voluntary  confent  of  his  to  be- 
come incarnate  and  to  fuffer,  is  plainly  reprefented 
in  fcveral  places  of  fcripture ;  Pfal.  xl.  6,  7.  Heb. 
X.  ij.  *  Sacrifice  and  offering  thou  didft  not  defire,* 
thefe  were  not  fufficient  to  expiate  the  (in  of  man  j 

*  Thou  haft  prepared  a  body  for  me  j  then  faid  1, 
Lo  I  come,'  i.  e.  to  dwell  in  this  body,  to  under- 
take this  work  ;  *  1  delight  to  do  thy  will,  O  my 
God.'  "  And  thefe  two  expreffions,  Pfal.  xl.  *  My 
cars  haft  thou  bored,'  and  '  Thy  law  is  in  my  heart,' 
are  more  proper  (faith  Dr.  Goodwin,  Vol.  III.  Book 
iv.  p.  142,  143.)  to  apply  to  the  foul  of  this  human 
nature,  and  to  be  underftood  to  be  the  voice  of 
his  human  nature,  rather  than  of  the  divine  :  He 
was  willing  and  obedient  to  do  God's  will,  as  a  fer- 
vant  to  do  his  mafter's."  And  this  great  author 
thought  this  confent  fo  neceflary,  that  he  rather 
ventures  to  introduce  a  moft  miraculous  fcene,  than 
to  have  this  early  confent  of  Chrift  as  Man  omitted  j 
and  therefore  he  fuppofes  that  in  a  miraculous  way 
the  human  foul  of  Chrift  did  give  itfeif  up  to  this 
work  from  his  very  birth. 

His  own  free  confent  appears  plainly  In  thefe 
words,  '  He  humbled  himfelf.'  Phil.  ii.  He  emp- 
tied himfelf  of  glory  when  he  became  man,  and  di- 
ed for  fmners.  And  '  he  himfelf  took  part  of  fiefli 
and  blood'   with   this  defign,  that   he  might  die, 

*  that  he  might  through  his  death  deftroy  the  works 
of  the  devil.'  Heb.  ii.  14.  He  declares  further  his 
own  free  confent,  John  vi.  38.  '1  came  down  from 
heaven  to  do  my  Father's  will.'  And  John  x.  17, 
t8.    *  Therefore  doth  my  Father  love  me,  becaufe 

I  lay 


Sect.  IV.         of  Chrift^s  Human  Soul.  193 

I  lay  down  my  life  that  I  might  take  it  again.* 
*  No  man  taketh  my  Hfe  from  me,'  that  is,  againft 
my  free  confent ;  bat  '  I  lay  it  down  myfelf,'  that 
is,  of  my  own  choice  and  voluntary  engagement. 
."  This  thought  I  propof;  (fays  the  defender  of  bifh- 
op  Fowler's  difcourfe)  to  be  well  confidered  by  all 
free  and  ingenuous  minds,  and  by  all  thofe  who  would 
not  in  the  leaft  derogate  from  the  honour  of  their 
blefled  Mediator  Chrift  Jefus,"  and  the  amazing  love 
that  appears  in  his  mighty  undertaking. 

^rg.  IL  The  covenant  betwixt  God  the  Father 
and  his  Son  Jefus  Chrift  for  the  redemption  of  man- 
kind,  is  reprefented  in  Icripture  as  being  made  and 
agreed  upon  from  or  before  the  foundation  of  the 
world.  Is  it  not  then  moft  proper  that  both  real 
parties  lliould  be  actually  prefent,  and  that  this 
fiiould  not  be  traniadted  merely  within  the  divine 
effence  by  fuch  fort  of  diftind  perfonalities  as  have 
no  diilinft  mind  and  will  }  The  effence  of  God  is 
generally  agreed  by  our  Proteftant  divines  to  be  the 
fame  fingle  numerical  effence  in  all  three  perfonali- 
ties, and  therefore  it  can  be  but  one  confcious  mind 
or  fpirit.  Now  can  one  fmgle  underftanding  and 
will  make  fuch  a  covenant  as  fcripture  reprefents  .? 

I  grant  the  divine  nature  which  is  in  Chrift  from 
eternity  contrived  and  agreed  all  the  parts  of  this 
covenant.  But  does  it  not  add  a  luftre  and  glory, 
and  more  confpicuous  equity,  to  this  covenant,  to 
fuppofe  the  Man  Chrift  Jefus  (who  is  moft  properly 
the  Mediator  according  to  i  Tim.  ii.  5.)  to  be  alfo 
prefent  before  the  w^orld  was  made,  to  be  chofen  and 
appointed  as  the  Redeemer  or  Reconciler  of  man- 
kind, to  be  then  ordained  the  head  of  his  future  peo<^ 
pie,  to  receive  promifes,  grace  and  bleffings  in  their 
name,  and  to  accept  the  folemn  and  weighty  truft 
from  the  hand  of  his  Father,  i.  e.  to  take  care  of 
millions  of  fouls  ?  Read  the  following  fcriptures, 
N  and 


1^4  '^^''^  ^'^^b  -Sa*^^;/^^  Disc.  Ill, 

and  fee  whether  they  do  not  imply  thus  much  : 
I  Tim.  ii.  5.  '  There  is  one  Mediator  between  God 
and  man,  even  the  Man  Chriil  Jefus.*  Ephef.  i. 
34.  *  BleiTed  be  the  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord 
Jefus  Chrift,  who  hath  blelTed  us  with  all  fpiritual 
bleffings  in  heavenly  places  in  Chrift,  according  as 
he  hath  chofen  us  in  him  before  the  foundation  of 
the  world.'  2  Tim.  i.  8,  9,  10.  *  God  hath  fav- 
ed  us,  and  called  us  with  an  holy  calling,  not  ac- 
cording to  our  works,  but  according  to  his  own 
purpofe  and  grace  which  was  given  us  in  Chrift  Je- 
fus before  the  world  began.'  T^'it.  i.  2.  *  Eternal 
life  which  God  that  cannot  lie  promifed  before  the 
world  began.'  Now  to  whom  could  this  promife 
be  made  but  to  Jefus  Chrift,  and  to  us  in  him,  as 
the  great  patron  and  reprefentative  of  believers  ? 
Rev.  xiii.  8.  '  All  that  dwell  on  earth  fliall  worfhip 
the  bead,  whofe  names  are  not  written  in  the  book 
of  life  of  the  Lamb  flain  from  the  foundation  of  the 
world.'  Whether  thefe  words,  'from  the  foundation 
of  the  world,'  refer  to  the  '  flaying  of  the  Lamb'  by 
way  of  anticipation,  or  rather  to  '  writing  of  the  book 
of  life,'  yet  they  certainly  refer  to  the  tranfadion  of 
this  important  affair  with  the  Lamb,  and  therefore 
this  exprefiion  is  ufed  feveral  times  in  the  book  of 
the  Revelations. 

It  was  by  virtue  of  this  covenant,  and  the  facrii» 
fice  of  his  own  blood  which  Chrift  was  to  offer 
in  due  time,  that  all  the  benefits  of  this  covenant 
were  derived  upon  mankind  in  the  various  ages  of 
it  ever  fince  the  fall  of  man  ;  therefore  Chrift  was 
a  Saviour  from  the  beginning  of  the  world ;  and 
thofe  who  apply  all  thefe  things  merely  to  the  di- 
vine nature  of  Chrift,  as  confenting  to  this  cove- 
nant upon  the  propofal  of  the  Father,  yet  they  fup- 
pofe  the  human  nature  of  Chrift  to  be  included  in 
it  in  the  view  of  God  the  Father,  by  way  of  prolep- 

fis 


Sect.  IV.         of  Chrijl^s  Human  Soul.  i^^ 

fis  or  anticipation.  But  furely  it  feems  much  more 
proper  to  explain  thefe  things  concerning  the  hu- 
man foul  of  Chrift  as  adlually  united  to  the  divine 
nature,  and  actually  confenting  to  this  covenant, 
lince  the  human  nature  was  to  endure  the  fufFerings  ; 
and  then  we  need  not  be  conftrained  to  recur  to  fuch 
proleptical  figures  of  fpeech  to  interpret  the 
language  of  fcripture,  lince  the  literal  fenfe  is  juft 
and  true. 

Thus  it  appears,  if  we  confider  this  covenant  as 
made  betwixt  God  the  Father  and  his  Son,  (and  as 
it  is  ufually  called  the  covenant  of  redemption)  it 
Jeems  to  require  the  pre-exiftence  of  the  foul  of 
Chrift.  Or  if  we  confider  the  covenant  of  grace  as 
it  has  been  propofed  to  men  in  all  ages  fince  the 
fall,  the  exiftence  of  Chrift  as  God-Man  appears 
requifite  alfo  to  conftitute  him  a  proper  Mediator. 
It  does  not  feem  to  be  fo  agreeable  a  fuppofition  to 
make  this  covenant  for  the  falvation  of  men  from 
the  vengeance  of  God  to  run  on  for  the  fpace  of 
four  thoufand  years  together,  that  is,  from  the  cre- 
ation and  fall  of  man  to  the  incarnation  of  Chrift, 
without  any  proper  or  fuitable  mediator  or  under- 
taker on  the  part  of  man.  This  covenant  of  the 
gofpel,  or  of  God  in  Chrift,  includes  in  the  very  na- 
ture and  theory  of  it  two  real  diftinct  parties,  God 
and  man  ;  fo  that  the  title  of  Mediator  feemsto  re- 
quire that  man  ftiould  be  reprefented  by  the  Media- 
tor as  well  as  God,,  and  that  the  complete  perfon  of 
the  Mediator  fhould  have  fome  affinity  to  both  par- 
ties, and  actually  agree  to  this  covenant  in  that  whole 
perfon  before  the  communication  of  the  benefits  of 
it  to  the  earlieft  ages  of  mankind. 

Obferve  alfo,   (what  was  intimated  before)  that 

this  one  Mediator  is  particularly  called  '  The  Man 

Chrift  Jefus,*  i  Tim.  ii.  5.  that  the  human  nature 

may  appear  to  be  fignally  concerned  in  the  n:iedia- 

N  a  tion  : 


Tp6  Th:  early  Ey.ijiente  Disc.  III. 

tion  :  and  for  the  lame  rcafon,  the  book  of  life  is 
faid  to  belong  to  the  Lamb,  which  name  is  appli- 
ed to  the  human  nature  of  Chrift,  in  union  with  the 
divine,  with  much  more  propriety  than  it  can  be 
applied  merely  to  the  divine  nature  without  fuch 
an  union. 

Ar^.  111.  Another  argument  for  this  dodrine 
of  the  exiftence  of  the  foul  of  Chrift  before  his  in- 
carnation may  be  derived  from  the  fcriptural  de- 
fcriptions  of  thrift's  coming  into  the  world.  This 
is  always  expreffed  in  fome  corporeal  language,  fuch 
as  denotes  his  taking  ow  him  animal  nature,  or  bod)^ 
or  fledi,  without  the  Icaft  mention  of  taking  a  foul. 
Read  the  following  fcriptures  :  John  i.  14.  *  The 
Word  was  made  fleih,  and  dwelt  among  us.'  Rom. 
i.  3.  *  He  was  made  of  the  feed  of  David,  accord- 
ing to  the  fledi.'  Rom.  viii.  q.  '  God  fending  his 
Son  in  the  likenefs  of  finful  fle[li.«  Gal.  iv.  3.  *  God 
fent  forth  his  Son  made  of  a  woman.'  This  Word 
cannot  neceffarily  imply  the  foul,  for  his  foul  could 
not  be  made  of  tb.e  foul  or  body  of  the  virgin  Mar)', 
but  his  fiefli  or  blood  was  made  out  of  hers. 

Phil.  ii.  7,  8.  '  He  was  made  in  the  likenefs  of 
men,  and  was  found  in  fafliion  as  a  man.'  Now 
Ihape  or  fafhion  peculiarly  refer  to  the  body  rather 
than  the  foul. 

Artd  in  the  2d  chapter  to  the  Hebrews,  where 
the  apoftle  treats  profefledly  of  the  incarnation  of 
Chrift,  he  feems  to  fuppofe  that  his  foul  exifted  be- 
fore, and  that  he  was  like  the  children  of  God  al- 
ready in  that  refpedl ;  but  ver.  14.  *  For  as  much  as 
the  children  were  partakers  of  ftefli  and  blood,  he 
alfo  himfelf  likewife  took  part  of  the  fame,  that  he 
might  in  all  things  be  like  his  brethren,'  as  ver.  17. 
And  if  he  be  faid  to  *  take  on  him  the  feed  of  Abra- 
ham,' ver.  16.  yet  it  is  certain  that  the  human  body 
of  Chrift  has  a  very  proper  and  literal  right  to  that 

name. 


Sect.  IV.         of  ChrijTs  Human  Sou/.  197 

name,  rather  than  the  foul,  though  the  word  T^-^^/ may 
more  frequently  include  both. 

Again,  it  is  faid  by  the  fame  apoftle  in  Heb.  v. 
y.  '  In  the  days  of  his  ilefli  he  offered  up  prayers 
and  fupplications  with  ftrong  crying  and  tears,'  i.  c. 
when  he  had  taken  fiefli  upon  him,  and  dwelt  in  it. 
And  in  Heb.  x.  when  God  the  Father  fends  his  Son 
into  the  world,  he  is  faid  to  '  prepare  a  body  for 
him,'  but  not  a  human  foul ;  ver.  5.  '  A  body  haft 
thou  prepared  me.' 

The  apoftle  John  fpeaks  feveral  times  of  '  Jefus 
Chrift  being  come  in  the  flefti,'  to  fignify  his  coming 
into  the  world,  in  his  firft  and  fecond  epiftles,  in- 
timating that  the  perfon  who  is  vefted  with  the 
name  and  charader  of  Jefus  and  Chrift,  had  every 
thing  befides  flefli  before. 

On  the  other  hand,  if  Chrift  did  take  a  human 
foul  upon  him  (or  the  whole  complex  nature  of 
man)  at  the  famie  time  when  he  was  born  of  the 
virgin,  it  is  a  wonder  that  there  ftiould  not  be  any 
one  fcripture,  neither  in  the  Old  or  New  Tefta- 
ment,  which  fhould  give  fuch  a  hint  to  us,  that  he 
then  took  a  reafonable  foul  as  well  as  a  body  ;  or 
Ihould  tell  us  at  leaft  that  he  exprefsly  affumed  hu- 
man nature,  which  might  include  both  flefti  and 
fplrit ;  but  that  it  Ihould  always  ufe  fuch  words  as 
chiefly  and  diredly  denote  the  body.  This  feems 
to  carry  fome  evident  intimation  that  his  human 
foul  exifted  before. 

Perhaps  it  will  be  objeded  here,  that  the  word 
J-JeJIi  in  many  places  of  fcripture  fignifies  mankind  or 
human  nature,  by  the  h^^wxo.  fynecdoche  including  the 
foul  alfo. 

It  is  granted  that  fleJJi  doth  fometimes  (ignify 
mankind,  and  this  objedion  might  be  good  if  the 
fcriptural  language  never  ufed  any  thing  but  the 
word  flefti  to  denote  human  nature,  and  never  dif- 

tinguiOxed 


1 9$  The  early  Exijience  Disc.  III. 

tinguifhed  the  flelh  and  the  foul :  but  fince  there 
are  a  great  number  of  fcriptures  where  the  flefli  or 
body  is  diftinguiflied  from  the  foul  or  fplrit  of  man 
on  many  occafions,  it  feems  very  natural  and  rea- 
fonable  to  expe£t  there  fhould  be  fome  one  pafTage 
at  leafl:  in  all  the  bible  wherein  the  divine  nature  of 
Chrift  fhould  be  faid  to  aflume  a  human  foul  as 
well  as  a  body  of  flefli,  when  he  came  into  our 
world,  if  this  fpirit  or  foul  had  no  exiflence  before 
the  incarnation. 

And  we  have  the  more  reafon  to  expedt  this  alfo 
when  we  obferve,  that  there  is  mention  made  of  the 
foul  of  Chrift  himfelf  in  feveral  places  of  fcripture  on 
other  oocafions,  as  Ifai.  liii.  lo.  '  Thou  flialt  make 
his  foul  an  offering  for  fin.'  Ver.  ii.  *  He  fliall  fee 
of  the  travail  of  his  foul.'  Luke  xxiii.  46.  *  Father, 
into  thy  hands  I  commend  my  fpirit.'  Adts  ii.  31. 
*  His  foul  was  not  left  in  hell.'  John  xii.  27.  '  Now 
is  my  foul  troubled.'  Matt.  xxvi.  38.  '  My  foul  is 
exceeding  forrowfuL'  Luke  x.  21.  *  Jefus  rejoiced 
in  fpirit.'  John  xi.  33.  and  xiii.  21.  '  Jefus  was 
troubled  in  fpirit.'  Now,  fince  we  have  the  human 
foul  or  fpirit  of  Chrift  mentioned  feveral  times  in 
fcripture  on  other  occafions,  and  yet  never  once 
mentioned  with  relation  to  his  incarnation,  but  al- 
ways find  his  coming  into  our  world  defcribed  by 
taking  '  flefh  and  blood,'  '  body,'  the  *  fafliion  of  a 
man,'  the  '  likenefs  of  finful  flefh,'  &c.  there  is  much 
reafon  to  fuppofe  that  Chrift  had  a  human  foul  be- 
fore, and  did  not  then  begin  to  have  it. 

Arg.  IV,  Though  the  Jews  were  much  at  a  lofs 
in  our  Saviour's  time  in  their  fentiments  of  the  Mef- 
fiah,  and  had  very  various  and  confufed  notions  of 
him,  yet  it  is  certain  that  amongft  many  of  the 
learned  of  that  nation  (and  probably  amongft  many 
of  the  vulgar  too)  there  was  a  tradition  of  the  pre- 
exiftence  of  the  foul  of  the  Meffiab.     Philo,  the 

Jew, 


Sect.  IV.         of  ChriJFs  Human  Soul.  199 

Jew,  who  lived  very  near  the  time  of  our  Saviour, 
interprets  feveral  of  thofe  fcriptures  of  the  Old  Tef- 
tament  concerning  the  Mediator  or  Logos  which  we 
do  :  he  calls  him  the  Son  of  God,  and  yet  he  makes 
him  exprefsly  a  Man,  the  Prince  of  the  angels,  the 
Prophet  of  God,  the  Light  of  the  people  ;  and  though 
he  talks  with  fome  confufion  on  this  fubjed:,  and 
gives  him  fome  fuch  charaflers  as  feem  to  make  this 
Logos  truly  divine,  and  one  with  God,  yet  other 
charaders  alfo  are  fuch  as  feem  to  be  inferior  to 
Godhead,  and  very  happily  agree  with  this  doftrine 
of  the  pre-exiftent  foul  of  Chrift  in  union  with  his 
divine  nature,  as  will  plainly  appear  in  what  follows. 

In  fome  parts  of  his  works,  Philo  defcribes  the 
Logos  as  a  particular  divine  power,  ^ui/a/wt?,  which  he 
alfo  calls  <roipta,  or  Wijdoni,  (as  Solomon  does  in  the 
eighth  of  Proverbs)  and  he  attributes  to  this  Wifdom 
or  Word,  an  exiftence  before  any  creature,  the  con- 
trivance of  the  creation  of  the  world  and  all  things 
in  it,  with  other  divine  and  incommunicable  afcrip- 
tions.  Sometimes  the  ancient  Jews  make  it  the  fame 
with  God  himfelf ;  fo  the  Targums  do  (which  are 
Jewilh  commentaries  upon  fcripture)  when  they 
fpeak  of  the  Memra  or  Word,  thereby  reprefenting 
either  divine  powers  or  properties  in  a  perfonal  man- 
ner, or  the  divine  nature  itfelf  in  a  particular  manner 
of  agency,  relation  or  fubfiftence. 

In  other  places,  Philo  makes  the  Logos  or  Word 
to  fignify  that  glorious  arch-angel  which  the  ancient 
Jews  luppofe  to  be  the  fupreme  of  creatures,  formed 
before  all  the  angels  and  all  the  other  parts  of  the  cre- 
ation, '  in  whom  was  the  name  of  God,'  who  was 
fent  to  condudt  Mofes  and  the  Jews  into  Canaan. 
Exod.  xxiii.  20.  This  glorious  fpirit  Philo  calls 
*'  the  mod  honourable  L<?^oj,  the  Arch-Angel,  Prince 
of  the  angels  and  ftars,  High-Prieft  in  this  temple  of 
God  the  world,  who  flands  in  the  limits  between  the 

creature 


200  The  early  Exijlence  Disc.  II T 

creature  and  the  Creator,  the  elded,  the  firft-begot- 
ten  ot  the  Ions  of  God,  who  under  God  governs  the 
world,  and  who  doth  humbly  mediate  for  us  mor- 
tals with  him  that  is  immortal." 

The  ibvctity  Jewilh  interpreters  feem  to  have  had 
feme  notion  that  this  arch-angel  was  the  MeiTiah, 
when  they  call  the  '  Child  born,'  the  '  Son  given,' 
in  Ilk.  ix.  6.  MsyuX-^  SaAij?  AyyfA©^,  the  Angel  of 
the  great  Counfe/^  even  as  Chrill  is  called  an  angel. 
Ila.  Ixiii.  9.  Mai.  iii.  i.  Exod.  xxiii.  20.  And  it 
was  a  general  opinion  of  the  ancient  Jews  that  there 
was  one  glorious  angel  fuperior  to  all  the  reft,  by 
whom  God  made  his  vifits  to  the  patriarchs,  and 
declared  his  will  to  Abraham,  Jacob,  Moles,  Jolh- 
ua,  &c. 

I  confefs  thefe  ancient  Jews  fpeak  varioufly  and 
with  fome  darknefs  and  confufion  on  thefe  fubjects, 
that  we  cannot  gather  any  fleady  or  certain  infer- 
ences that  they  generally  believed  either  of  thefe  two 
Logos\  to  be  the  very  perfon  of  their  expected  Mef- 
fiah  :  yet  a  Chriftian,  who  has  the  clearer  light  of 
the  New  Teftament,  may  from  their  writings  eafily 
and  naturally  trace  and  infer  the  dodrine  of  the 
uncreated  Logos,  Lliat  is,  the  divine  IVord,  or  fVif- 
dom,  united  to  the  created  Logos,  that  is,  the  great 
Arch-Angel,  becaufe  thefe  ancient  Jews  afcribe  to 
the  Logos  fo  many  things  which  are  truly  divine,  and 
fo  many  things  inferior  to  divinity. 

But  they  fpeak  in  fome  confufion,  becauie  they 
feem  not  to  have  had  a  clear  idea  of  this  perfon- 
al  union  between  God  and  a  creature.  Whereas 
Chriftians  being  inftrucled  in  this  doftrine  by  the 
Islevv  Teftament,  may  clearly  underftand  how  by 
this  glorious  Being,  this  complex  perfon,  viz.  our 
Lord  Jefus  Chrift,  God  created  the  world  and  God 
governed  the  affairs  of  his  ancient  church  :  and 
that  Handing  in  the  limits  betwixt  God  and  the 

creature» 


Sect.  IV.  of  Chrijl's  Human  Soaf.  £oi 

creature,  both  by  his  nature  as  well  as  his  offi,c<?  he 
becomes  the  High-Pried,  and  mediates  between 
mortal  men,  and  God,  wiio  is  immortal,  according 
to  the  language  of  the  ancient  Jews. 

What  I  have  cited  alread}"-,  difcovers  the  ackno?/!- 
edged  fenfe  and  opinion  of  the  ancient  Jews  bqth 
philofophers  and  commentators  on  this  fubjedt.  See 
much  more  to  this  purpol'c  in  my  diiTertation  on  ths 
Logos  or  IFord  of  God. 

If  we  fearch  among  other  of  the  Jewiih  writers, 
we  may  find  more  intimations  of  this  doftrinc. 

Bifhop  Fowler  cites  fome  notable  traditions  of 
the  Jewifh  Rabbles  to  this  purpofe ;  one  in  an  ari- 
cient  book  amongft  the  Jews  called  Pefikta,  viz, 
That  *'  after  God  had  created  the  world,  he  put 
his  hand  under  the  throne  of  his  glory,  and  brought 
out  the  foul  of  the  MefTiah,  with  all  his  attendants, 
and  faid  unto  him,  Wilt  thou  heal  and  redeem  my 
Tons  after  6000  years  ?  He  anfvvered,  1  am  willing 
fotodo.  Again  therefore,  faid  God  unto  him,  And; 
art  thou  willing  to  fufFcr  chaftifements,  for  the  purg- 
ing away  their  iniquities  ?  And  the  foul  of  the  Mef- 
fiah  anfwered,  I  will  fuffer  them,  and  that  with  allj 
my  heart."  ;j 

*' And  there  is,"  faith  he,  "a  cabbaliftical  reprefent-|l 
ation  of  their  expelled  Meffiah's  being  in  heaven,  inli 
another  old  book  of  hiffh  elleem  amono-  the  Tews, 
entitled  Midralli  Conen,  viz.  "  in  the  fifth  houfe 
fits  the  Mefiiah,  fon  of  David  s  and  Elias  of  blelTed 
memory  faid  to  this  Mefiiah,  Bear  the  ftroke  anci 
judgment  of  the  Lord,  which  he  inlliifts  on  thee  for 
the  fin  of  Ifrael,  as  it  is  written  by  Ifaiah,  '  He  was' 
wounded  becaufe  of  our  tranfgreffions,"  &c.  Now, 
though  we  allow  no  more  credit  to  thefe  traditions 
than  to  other  Jev,ri(li  tales,  yet  it  difcovers  their  an-| 
cient  notion  of  the  pre -ex  i  fie  nee  of  the  foul  of  thej 
Mefliah ;    and  the  learned   Mr.   Flemin;;  tells  us] 

that 


f? 


202  The  early  Exijlence  Disc.  Ill, 

that  It  vva"i  an  inducement  to  him  to  favour  this 
opinion,  becaufe  the  Jews  Teemed  to  have  laid  down 
this  as  an  undoubted  maxim  in  all  ages,  that  the 
foul  of  the  Mefliah  was  made  before  all  creatures, 
as  all  muft  own  that  are  in  the  lead  acquainted  with 
their  opinions  and  writings.  Chriflology,  Book  iii. 
Chap.  ^.  p.  457.  That  this  was  an  ancient  opin- 
ion of  the  Jews  is  confirmed  by  other  writers  alfo. 

And  it  is  no  wonder  if  many  of  the  common 
jx^ople,  as  well  as  the  learned,  had  alfo  this  notion 
of  the  foul  of  Chrift,  fmce  it  appears,  John  ix.  2, 
tliat  they  had  a  belief  of  the  pre-exiftence  of  all  hu- 
man fouls,  for  which  opinion  I  think  there  is  neither 
in  fcripture  nor  in  reafon  any  juft  foundation  ;  nor 
doth  the  pre-exiftence  of  the  foul  of  Chrift  at  all 
infer  the  do6trine  of  the  pre-exiftence  of  other  fouls, 
but  rather  the  contrary,  as  will  appear  under  the 
next  particular. 

Ar^.  V.  Since  it  pleafed  the  Father  to  prepare  a 
body  for  our  Lord  Jefus  Chrift  by  the  over-fhadow- 
ing  of  the  Holy  Ghoft,  and  by  a  peculiar  manner  of 
conception,  that  his  body  might  have  fame  peculiar 
prerogative,  and  that  he  might  be  the  Son  of  God 
In  a  fuiicrior  fenfe  with  regard  to  his  flelh,  (as  Luke 
i.  35.)  fo  it  is  not  unreafonable  to  fuppofe  that  the 
foul  of  Chriit  alfo,  which  was  to  be  united  to  God- 
bead,  fliould  have  this  peculiar  prerogative,  to  be 
derived  immediately  from  God  before  any  creature 
was  made,  and  to  enjoy  this  union  with  the  divine 
nature,  and  glories  luitat:>le  thereto,  before  its  union 
with  an  earthly  body  ;  and  thus  in  conllderation  of 
its  formation  before  all  creatures  in  a  moft  immedi- 
ate manner  by  the  will  of  God,  as  well  as  its  neareft 
refemblance  to  God  himfclf  above  all  other  fpirits, 
this  human  foul  might  be  called  alfo  the  Son  of 
God  and  his  only  begotten  Son,  in  a  tranfcendent 
manner  above  all  other  beings,  whether  men  or  an- 
gels, 


Sect.  V.  of  Chrijl's  Human  Sotd.  203 

gels,  who  are  fometimes  called /w/j  of  God.  But  this 
thought  perhaps  will  be  fet  in  a  clearer  light,  when 
we  come  to  explain  a  variety  of  fcriptures  according 
to  this  hypothefis  in  the  next  leftion  ;  and  it  may 
be  yet  made  plainer  flill,  whenfoever  I  fliall  publifh 
another  diflertation  which  I  have  written  on  the 
name,  Son  of  God. 

SECT.       V. 

A  Confirmation  of  this  Do£irine  by  Arguments  drazvn 
from  the  happy  ConfequenceSy  and  the  various  Advan- 
tages of  it. 

1  THINK  the  reafon  and  confiderations  mentioned 
in  the  two  foregoing  feftions  have  fome  weight  in 
them  :  but  the  argument  will  receive  new  ftrength, 
if  we  furvey  the  various  advantages  that  attend  this 
opinion  of  the  pre-exiftent  foul  of  Chrift. 

I.  Advantage.  This  doftrine  cafts  a  furprifing 
light  upoa  many  dark  paflages  in  the  word  of  God  5 
it  does  very  naturally  and  eafily  explain  and  recon- 
cile feveral  difficult  places  both  of  the  Old  and  New 
Teftament,  which  are  very  hard  to  be  accounted  for 
any  other  way.  Some  of  thefe  I  have  already  men- 
tioned, and  I  think  they  appear  in  a  fairer  light  by 
the  help  of  this  doctrine.  Other  paflages  there  are 
which  (peak  of  Chrift  as  the  true  God,  and  yet  at  the 
fame  time  in  the  context  attribute  fuch  properties 
and  charafters  to  him  as  are  very  hard  to  be  recon- 
ciled and  applied  to  pure  Godhead  ;  but  are  ex- 
plained with  utmoft  eafe  to  us,  and  honour  to  Chrift, 
by  fuppofmg  his  pre-exiftent  foul  even  then  united 
to  his  divine  nature. 

Let  us  furvey  fome  of  thefe  portions  of  fcripture. 
Firft  text,  Col.  i.  15,  &c.  Chrift  is  defcribed  as  tiie 

*  imaae 


204  The  early  Exijlence  Disc.  Ill, 

*  image  of  the  invifible  God,  the  firft-born  of  every 
creature,  for  by  him  were  all  things  created  that  are 
in  heaven,  and  that  are  in  earth,  vifible  and  invifi- 
ble,' &c.  '  All  things  were  created  by  him  and  for 
him,  and  he  is  before  all  ihings,  and  by  him  all 
things  confift  ;  and  he  is  the  head  of  the  body  the 
church,  the  beginning,  the  firft-born  from  the  dead, 
that  in  all  things  he  might  have  the  pre-eminence  ; 
for  it  |.lea(ed  the  Father  that  in  him  fhould  all  ful- 
nefs  dwell,'  or  as  it  is  expreiTid  in  the  fecond  chapter, 
ver.  9,  *  for  in  him  dwelleth  all  the  fulnefs  of  the 
Godhead  bodily.*  Here  are  fome  expreffions  which 
feem  too  fublime  for  any  mere  creature,  viz.  '  All 
things  are  created,  by  him  and  for  him,  and  by  him 
all  things  confift.'  But  \Nhen  it  is  faid,  *  He  is  the 
image  of  the  invifible  God,'  this  cannot  refer  merely 
to  his  divine  nature,  for  that  is  as  invifible  in  the  Son 
as  it  is  in  the  Father  ;  therefore  it  feems  to  refer  to 
his  pre-exiftent  foul  in  union  with  his  Godhead, 
who  is  the  brightcft,.  the  faireft  and  moft  glorious 
image  of  God  i  and  fo  he  appears  to  the  world  of  an- 
gels in  heaven,  and  by  his  frequent  affuming  a  vifi- 
ble  (liape  heretofore,  became  the  image  of  the  invifi- 
ble God  to  men,  and  dwelt  here  for  a  feafon  on  earth. 

He  is  faid  alfo  to  be  *  the  firft-born  of  every  crea- 
ture. There  has  been  much  labour  and  art  of  crit- 
icifm  employed  to  apply  thefe  u'ords  merely  to  the 
divine  nature  of  Chrift,  by  giving  them  a  metaphor- 
ical or  foqic  unufual  fenfe  :  but  if  we  fuppofe  this 
foul  of  Chrift  to  exift  thus  early,  then  he  is  properly 
the  '  firft-born  of  every  creature'  in  the  literal  fenfe  of 
the  words  ;  and  in  this  fenfe  he  may  be  literally  call- 
ed *  the  beginning  of  the  creation  of  God,  as  he 
ftylcs  himfelf,  Rev.  iii.  14. 

\i  we  join  the  cxprcftions   of  the  firft  and  fecond 
chapters  to  the  Colofiians  together,  we  may  explain 
the  one  by  the  otlier.     '  He  is  the  image  of  the  in- 
vifible 


Sect.  V.         of  Chriji's  Human  Son!.  20^ 

vifible  God  ;  by  him  and  for  liim  were  all  thin9;s 
created,  and  in  him  all  things  confift,  that  in  all 
things  he  might  have  the  pre-eminence,'  &c.  '  for  it 
pleafed  the  Father  that  in  him  fhould  dwell  all  the 
fulnefs  of  the  Godhead  bodily.'  All  the  Godhead 
dwelt  in  him  as  a  fpirit,  or  fpiiitiially  before  the  in- 
carnation, and  bodily  fince  ;  thus  the  19th  ver.  of 
Chap.  i.  comes  in  properly  as  a  reafon  for  all  thofc 
attributions  both  fupreme  and  inferior,  viz.  becaufe 
God  was  pleafed  to  ordain  that  the  divine  nature 
fliould  be  united  to  this  glorious  being,  the  human 
foul  of  Ch rift,  now  appearing  in  a  body. 

Dr.  Thomas  Goodwin  was  a  learned,  a  laborious 
and  a  fuccefsful  inquirer  into  all  thofe  fcriptures  that 
treat  of  our  Lord  Jefus  Chrift  in  order  to  aggrandize 
his  charadler  j  and  when  he  interprets  thefe  verfes, 
in  Vol.11.  Of  the  knowledge  of  God^  &c.  he  finds  him- 
felf  conftrained  to  explain  the  exprefiions  concerning 
the  divine  nature  of  Chrift,  as  united  to  man  by  way 
of  anticipation,  or  as  confidered  in  its  future  union 
,with  the  Man  Jefus,  and  argues  ftrongly  for  this  ex- 
pofition.  But  there  is  no  need  to  bring  in  fuch  a 
figure  as  prolepfs  or  the  anticipation  of  things  fu- 
ture, fince  the  real  and  a£lual  cxiftence  of  the  ibul  of 
Chrift  before  the  creation  makes  all  this  language  of 
fcripture  juft  and  plain  in  the  literal  fenfe.  And 
what  that  pious  and  ingenious  author  declares  upon 
this  fubjeQ:,  almoft  perfuades  me  to  believe  that  had 
he  lived  in  our  day,  he  would  have  been  a  hearty  de- 
fender of  the  dcclrine  which  I  propofe. 

lid  Text.  The  next  fcripture  I  fliall  cite  for  this 
purpofe  is  that  illuftrious  defcription  of  our  Lord 
Jefus  in  the  ift.  chap,  of  the  epiftle  to  the  Hebrews, 
wherein  there  are  fufficient  evidences  of  his  divine  na- 
ture :  but  there  are  fome  fuch  expreifions  as  feem  to 
imply  alfo  a  nature  inferior  and  dependent.  He  is 
reprefented  as  *  laying  the  foundations  of  the  earth, 

and 


so6  The  early  Exijlence  Disc.  III. 

and  the  heavens  are  the  work  of  his  hands ;'  '  he  up- 
holds all  things  by  the  word  of  his  power  :'  which 
exprcflTions  carry  in  them  an  idea  too  fublime  for 
any  mere  created  nature.  And  the  citation  of  the 
firft  of  them  from  the  ciid.  Pfalm,  proves  yet  fur- 
ther that  Chrift  is  Jehovah  the  Creator. 

But  when  he  is  called  a  '  Son,'  a  '  begotten  Son,* 
this  feems  to  imply  derivation  and  dependency  :  and 
perhaps  the  Sonfliip  of  Chrift,  and  his  being  the  'on- 
ly begotten  of  the  Father,'  may  be  better  explained 
by  attributing  it  to  his  human  foul  exifting  by  fome 
peculiar  and  immediate  manner  of  creation,  forma- 
tion, or  derivation  from  the  Father  before  other 
creatures  were  formed  ;  efpecially  if  we  include  in 
the  fame  idea  of  Sonlhip  (as  Dr.  Goodwin  does) 
his  union  to  the  divine  nature,  and  if  we  add  alfo  his 
exaltation  to  the  office  of  the  Meffiah  as  king  and 
lord  of  ail ;  which  fome  zealous  Trinitarians  fuppofe 
to  be  the  chief  thing  meant  when  God  faith,  *  Thou 
art  my  Son,  this  day  have  I  begotten  thee.' 

Now  this  matter  being  fet  in  a  fair  and  full  light, 
and  eftabliflied  by  jufb  arguments  from  fcripture, 
would  take  off  the  force  of  many  Arian  pretences 
againft  the  Trinity,  viz.  fuch  pretences  as  arife  from 
the  fuppofed  derivation  of  one  perfon  from  anoth- 
er in  pure  Godhead,  and  a  fuppofed  eternal  adl  of 
generation  producing  a  co-ellential  Son,  which 
things  are  not  plainly  exprcffed  in  any  part  of  the 
bible,  and  which  are  acknowledged  on  all  fides  to  be 
great  and  incomprehenfible  difficulties. 

Heb.  i.  3.  Perhaps  thefe  words,  '  The  brightnefs 
of  his  Father's  glory,  and  the  exprefs  image  of  his 
perfon,'  may  be  better  explained,  if  we  fuppofe  the 
divine  nature  of  Chrift  to  be  united  to  his  pre-ex- 
iftent  foul,  when  it  was  firft  created  :  this  human 
foul  of  Chrift  was  then  like  a  glafs  through  which 
the  Godhead  flione  with  inimitable  fplendour  in  all 

the 


Sect.  V.  of-  Ckrijl's  Human  Soul.  207 

the  perfe6lions  of  it,  wifdom,  power,  holinefs  and 
goodnefs  :  thus  Chrift  was  his  Father's  mod  perfeft 
image  or  copy,  both  in  his  own  native  excellencies, 
bearing  the  neareft  refemblance  to  God,  as  an  only 
begotten  Son,  and  he  was  alib  '  the  brightnefs  of  his 
glory  ;'  becaufe  the  perfections  of  the  Father  fhone 
through  him  with  more  illuftrious  rays  than  it  was 
poffible  for  any  mere  creature  to  reprefent  or  tranf- 
mit  them,  who  was  not  thus  united  t<^  a  divine 
nature.  | 

I  cannot  forbear  to  illuftrate  this  by  alfimilltudc 
which  I  think  has  been  fomewhere  ufed  by  Dr. 
Goodwin  :  fuppofe  it  poffible  for  a  hollow  globe  of 
cryftal  to  be  made  fo  vaft  as  to  inclofe  the  fun  ; 
this  globe  of  cryftal,  confidered  in  itfelf,  vyould  have 
many  properties  in  it,  perhaps,  refembling  the  fun 
in  a  more  perfect  manner  than  any  otlier  being : 
but  if  it  were  alfo  inhabited  by  the  fun  itfelf,  and 
thus  tranfmitted  the  glories  of  the  fun  to  men,  how 
exprefs  an  image  would  it  be  of  that  bright  luminary, 
and  would  it  not  be  the  mod  happy  medium  by 
which  the  fun  could  exert  its  powers  of  light  and 
heat  }  Such  is  Jefus  the  Man;  who  is  the  Son  of 
God  inhabited  by  the  divine  nature,  and  the  fairefl 
image  of  God. 

Befides,  let  it  be  yet  further  confidered,  that  when 
Chrift  is  called  in  ColofT.  i.  *  The  image  of  the  in- 
vifible  God,'  and  in  Heb.  i.  '  The  exprefs  image  of 
his  Father's  perfon,'  it  muft  be  underftood  either  of 
his  divine  nature  or  his  human.  If  it  be  underftood 
of  his  divine  nature,  it  muft  mean  that  he  is  the 
image  of  the  Father's  cflence  or  of  his  perfonality, 
for  the  perfonality  together  with  the  elTence,  make 
up  the  complete  character  of  God  the  Father. 

But  the  divine  nature  of  Chrift  cannot  properly 
be  the  image  of  his  Father's  nature  or  elTence  ;  for 
the  eflence  of  Godhead,  or  the  divine  nature  both 

in 


i  o 8  I  he  earh  cxiftence  I)  i  s c .  1 1 L 

in  the  Father  and  in  the  Son,  is  one  and  the  fame 
individual  nature  or  elVence,  which  cannot  properly 
be  the  inmge  of  itfelf,  nor  can  the  fame  individual 
cirence  be  both  the  original  and  the  image  at  the 
fame  time.  When  we  conceive  of"  the  Iclf-fame 
bod}',  or  the  rcH-fame  man,  or  the  felf-fame  angel, 
in  ditTerent  portions  or  fituations,  circumftances, 
relations  or  appearances,  we  never  fay  that  the  felf- 
fame  thing  is  the  image  of  itfelf.  Thus  Chrifl  in 
his  divine  clFcnce  cannot  be  the  image  of  the  Fa- 
ther's effence,  when  it  is  the  fame  individual  effence 
with  that  of  the  Father.  The  eflence  of  God  in  the 
perfon  of  the  Son  cannot  properly  be  the  image  of 
that  eiTence  in  the  perfon  of  the  Father,  fince  it  is 
the  fame  individual  elicince. 

Nor  is  Chrifl;  in  his  divine  nature  an  exprefs  im- 
age of  the  perfonality  of  the  Father.  Sonlhip  is  no 
image  of  paternity:  a  derived  property  or  fubfiftence 
is  no  image  of  an  underived  property  or  fubfiftence, 
but  jufl  the  reverfe  or  di redly  contrary  to  it. 

Since  therefore  Chrift  in  his  divine  nature  is  nei- 
ther the  image  of  his  Father's  eflence,  nor  of  his 
Father's  perfonality,  thefe  words  muft  be  fpokeii 
with  regard  to  Chrift's  human  nature  ;  and  in  this 
refpedt  he  is  the  '  exprefs  image  of  his  Father,'  or 
the  '  image  of  the  invifible  God  j'  and  that,  thefe 
three  ways. 

I.  As  the  human  foul  of  Chrift  is  a  creature^ 
which  has  the  neareft  likenefs  to  its  Creator.  This 
Son  of  God  is  a  moft  glorious  fpirit,  the  brighteft 
and  neareft  image  to  the  Father,  the  eternal  glori- 
ous Spirit ;  far  nearer  than  the  angels,  who  are  alfo 
the  fons  of  God,  or  than  Adam  who  was  the  fon  of 
God  too  ;  for  his  properties  and  perfections  are 
much  greater  than  theirs,  and  bear  a  much  nearer 
refemblance  to  the  properties  and  perfedions  of  God 
the  Father. 

2.  The 


S  E  c  T .  V .  of  Ckrift's  Human '  Sou!.  209 

2.  The  human  nature  of  Chrift  is  the  image  of 
the  invifible  God  the  Father,  as  he  often  aflumed  a 
vifible  form  under  the  Old  Teftament,  and  appeared 
and  fpake  and  afted  as  God  in  a  vifible  glory  ;  and 
fo  he  is  the  proper  '  image  of  the  invilible  God/ 
Col.  i. 

7,.  As  he  took  upon  him,  in  the  fulnefs  of  time, 
a  vifible  body  of  flefh  and  blood,  and  therein  ap- 
peared as  one  '  in  whom  the  fulnefs  of  the  Godhead 
dwelt  bodily,'  the  vifible  image  of  his  invifible  Fa- 
ther. 

But  I  proceed.  The  holy  writer  in  Heb.  i.  adds 
further,  that  '  he  was  appointed  heir  of  all  things,' 
which  feems  to  be  not  fo  applicable  to  the  pure 
Godhead  of  Chrift  ;  for  Godhead  has  an  original 
and  eternal  right  to  all  things,  and  does  not  come  at 
it  by  way  of  inheritance  or  derivation,  much  lefs  bv 
being  an  appointed  heir.  Dr.  Goodwin  is  fo  well 
perfuaded  of  the  fenfe  of  thefe  words,  that  they  are 
not  properly  applicable  to  pure  Godhead,  that  he 
again  fuppofes  the  holy  writer  to  fpeak  by  way  of 
anticipation,  and  to  view  the  divine  nature  of  Chrift 
in  union  with  the  man,  though  he  acknowledges  the 
things  which  are  now  fpoken  of  were  tranfad^ed  be- 
fore the  world  was.  ^ 

There  are  other  expreffions  in  this  chapter  which 
feem  to  refer  to  fome  being  inferior  to  Godhead. 
Ver.  4.  '  Being  made  fo  mu^h  better  than  the  an- 
gels, as  he  hath  by  inheritance  obtained  a  more  ex- 
cellent name  than  they.'  Ver,  9.  '  Thou  haft  loved 
righteoufnefs  and  hated  iniquity,  and  therefore  God, 
even  thy  God,  hath  anointed  thee  with  the  oil  of 
gladnefs  above  thy  fellows ;'  i.  e.  has  given  thee  the 
Holy  Spirit  as  a  comforter,  in  a  fuperior  meafure. 
Thefe  things  cannot  be  fuppofed  to  be  fpoken  of  the 
Godhead  of  Chrift  :  and  yet  they  feem  to  be  fpoken 
concerning  Chrift  before  his  incarnation,  and  then 

O  they 


2  10  The  early  Exijlence  Disc.  II L 

they  point  out  to  us  the  pre-exiftencc  of  his  human 
foul  :  whereas  if  they  are  fpoken  of  him  after  his 
incarnation,  then  they  prove  nothing  of  his  pre- 
cxiftent  glory,  which  fcems  to  be  the  defign  of  this^ 
chapter. 

Since  the  defign  of  the  fecond  chapter  to  the  He- 
brews is,  to  prove  the  incarnation  of  Chrift,  and  his 
taking  upon  him  a  human  body,  I  might  here  afk, 
vvhetiicr  the  defign  cf  the  firft  chapter  may  not  be 
to  reprefent  our  blefled  Lord  in  his  i)re-exiftent  ftate, 
both  divine  and  human,  i.  e.  to  fet  forth  the  glory 
cf  this  human  fpirit  both  in  its  own  excellencies  and 
in  its  original  union  with  the  divine  nature.  And 
this  appears  the  more  probable,  becaufe  the  author 
in  the  firil  chapter  is  frequently  comparing  him  with 
angels,  and  fets  him  above  them  in  feveral  compari- 
fons ;  now  thiswould  be  but  a  low  and  diminutive 
account  of  the  Godhead  of  Chrift,  to  raife  him 
above  angels ;  but  it  is  a  glorious  and  fubllme  ac- 
count of  his  human  foul,  eonfidered  as  united  to 
Godhead,  and  ooe  v/ith  God. 

And  fince  there  are  fo  many  expreffions  in  the 
firft  chapter  which  afcribe  ideas  to  Chrift  which  are 
inferior  to  Godhead,  as  v.-ell  as  fome  fublimer  ex- 
prcllions  which  appear  incommunicable  to  any  but 
God;  I  would  inquire  whether  the  introduftion  of 
this  pre-exiftent  foul  of  Chrift  here  may  not  be  a 
happy  clue  to  lead  us  into  the  very  mind  and  mean- 
ing of  this  portion  of  Icripture,  rather  than  to  fup- 
pole  the  Godhead  of  Chrift  is  always  intended  here  : 
for  by  fo  doing  we  embarrafs  ourfelves  with  this 
difficulty  (which  the  Arians  frequently  fling  upon 
us)  of  attributing  fomethlng  derivative  and  de- 
depdent  to  the  Divine  Nature,  and  afcribing 
fomethlng  too  low  and  mean  to  the  Godhead  of 
Chrift. 

I  might 


Sect.  V.  of  Chriji''s  Human  Soul.  2.11 

I  might  add  alfo  in  confirmation  of  this  thought, 
that  had  the  facred  writer's  only  defign  been  to  prove 
the  divine  nature  of  Chrift,  there  are  feveral  paf- 
fages  in  the  Old  Teftament  which  are  of  equal  force 
and  fignificancy  with  any  which  he  has  cited,  and 
which  are  more  evidently  applied  to  the  Mefliah  by 
the  prophets  themfeives  :  but  if  we  fuppofe  him  to 
fpeak  of  the  whole  pre-exiftent  glory  of  Chrift,  then 
the  citations  feeni  to  be  well  chofen  and  well  ming- 
led to  rcprefent  his  two  natures,  both  divine  and  hu- 
man, and  the  glory  of  his  facred  perfon  refulting 
thence. 

That  noble  expofitor  on  the  epiftle  to  the  He- 
brews, Dr.  Owen,  being  fenfible  that  all  thefe  expref- 
fions  in  this  chapter  can  never  be  applied  to  the  di- 
vine nature  of  Chrift,  aflerts,  that  "  it  is  not  the 
direct  and  immediate  defign  of  the  apoftle  in  this 
place  to  treat  abfolutely  of  either  nature  of  Chrift, 
either  divine  or  human,  but  only  of  his  perfon  :  and 
though  fome  things  here  exprefled  belong  to  his  di- 
vine nature,  fome  to  his  human  ;  yet  none  of  theth 
are  fpoken  as  luch,  but  are  all  confidered  as  belong- 
ing to  his  perfon."  See  his  expofition  on  the  He- 
brews, ver.  3.  p.  52.  So  that  I  have  thofe  two 
great  and  excellent  writers,  Dr.  Goodwin  and  Dr. 
Owen,  concurring  with  me  in  this  fentiment,  that 
it  is  not  the  prime  defign  of  this  firft  chapter  to  the 
Hebrews  to  prove  the  Deity  of  Chrift,  but  the 
glory  of  his  perfon  confidered  as  God- Man  :  and  in 
this  view  feveral  expreffions  of  the  apoftle  are  moft 
appofitely  adapted  to  rcprefent  the  glory  of  the  hu- 
man foul  of  Chrift  in  its  pre-exiftent  ftate,  and  in 
its  union  to  the  divine  nature. 

~  III.  TexL  Another  difficult  fcripture  which  is 
made  more  eafy  and  plain  by  this  doctrine,  is  the 
eighth  of  Proverbs,  ver.  22,  &c.  where  *  Wifdom'  is 
reprefented  as  '  brought  forth,'  and  '  dvveUing  with 
O  2  God 


2  12  Jlie  early  Exljinice  Disc.  III. 

God  before  the  world  was.'  May  not  this  be  hap- 
pily attributed  to  Chrift's  pre-exiftent  foul  united  to 
the  divine  nature,  or  the  perfon  of  the  Mediator  God- 
Man  ?  for  it  is  faid,  '  The  Lord  poffeiTed  me  in  the 
beginning  of  his  ways,  before  his  works  of  old  :  I 
was  fet  up  from  everlafting  :  before  the  hills  was  I 
brought  forth  :  I  was  by  him,'  and  was'  daily  his  de- 
light.'    Thefe  words  admit  of  two  or  three  remarks. 

1.  Thefe exprcflions,  I  was  *  pofleffed'  or  acquir- 
ed, '  I  was  let  up,  1  was  brought  forth,'  feem  to  ex- 
prefs  and  imply  fomething  inferior  to  pure  Godhead, 
which  is  underived  and  independent ;  yet  it  feems 
to  be  the  proper  defcription  of  a  being  diftind  from 
God  the  Father  in  the  literal  fenfe,*  for  thefe  words 
intimate  fo  much,  *  I  was  by  him  as  one  brought  up 
with  him,  I  was  daily*  his  delight,  I  rejoiced  before 
him,  and  my  delights  were  with  the  fons  of  men.* 
If  thefe  things  be  taken  literal}}',  they  mean  a  real 
perfon  inferior  and  diftinO:  from  God, 

2.  The  original  Hebrew  does  not  fay,  *the  Lord 
pofl^flTed  me  i?i  the  beginning  of  his  ways,'  but  '>2J'p, 
acquired,  or  aflumed,  or  '  pofleired  me  the  beginning 
of  his  ways,'  not  T\^^1Zi  but  rs^'V'^,  which  gives  a  fair 
ground  for  this  interpretation,  viz.  that  the  divine 
nature  acquired,  airum^cd,  or  pofleffed  himfelf  of  the 
human  foul  of  Chrift  as  the  beginning,  head  and 
foundation  of  all  his  works  and  ways,  both  of  crea- 
tion and  providence:    fo,  Rev.  iii.   14.    Chriil  is 

called 

*  I  readily  grant  tliat  divine  •wifdom  may  be  here  reprefented, 
after  tlie  manner  of  the  eaftern  \vri^•:rs,  as  the  counfel,  contrivance, 
and  tlie  decretive  power  or  will  of  God  in  a  perfonal  charafter, 
as  being  prefent  with  God  in  the  creation  of  the  world,  and  as 
produced  or  brought  forth  by  him  ;  but  even  this  wifdom  may  be 
fuppofcd  to  make  the  prc-exiilent  loul  of  Chrift,  in  fome  unknown 
manner,  its  inltrument  of  operation  (as  Dr.  Goodwin  ufesthe  word) 
and  wlien  the  facred  wiiter  adds,  '  I  rejoiced  daily  before  him  in 
the  habitable  parts  of  his  earth  ;  and  my  delights  were  with  the 
fons  of  men  ;'  this  feenis  to  cad  a  ftro»ger  al])C(5l  upon  fome  real 
proper  perfon  diftin<5l  from  Godheatl. 


Sect.  V.  of  Chrifi's  Human  Soul.  i\'i^ 

called  the   beginning  or  head   of  the   creation  of 
God. 

Mr.  Fleming  citing  thefe  verfes  at  large,  Chriftol- 
ogy,  Book  3.  chap.  5.  p.  469.  adds,  "What  we  ren- 
der in  ver.  24  and  25.  '  brought  forth,'  the  Tar- 
gum  renders,  by  being  born  in  the  firft  verfc,  and  by 
being  created^  in  the  next.  But  the  Hebrew  word  is 
the  fame  in  both,  and  is  juftly  rendered  by  Arias 
Montanus,/orw^/tf ;  i.-e.  framed,  formed,  or  made: 
as  the  Septuagint  to  the  fame  purpofe  renders  it  by 
TToiYKToa,  which  is  of,  the  fame  import.  And  what 
elfe  can  he  mean,  when  in  the  30th  verfe  he  repre- 
fents  himfelf,  as  one  brought  up  with  Gody  or  as  the 
Targum  fays,  as  one  nouriJJied  up  at  his  Jide  ?  Surely, 
if  this  be  meant  of  the  firft  created  fpirit  who  is 
now  the  foul  of  the  Meffiah,  no  expreffions  can  be 
more  plain  as  well  as  natural :  whereas  if  we  -under- 
ftand  them  immediately  of  the  Logos,  as  the  fecond 
Perfon  of  the  Trinity,  we  muft  get  over  abundance 
of  figures,  that  can  never,  I  think,  be  properly  ei- 
ther explained  or  accommodated  ;  befides  our  be- 
ing involved  in  endlefs  criticifms  about  words." 

Dr.  Goodwin  alfo  is  pofitive  that  thefe  expref- 
fions cannot  refer  to  the  fecond  Perfon  confidered  in 
his  eternal  generation,  but  they  muft  be  referred  to 
Chrift  as  God -Man,  becaufe  they  denote  an  a<9:  of 
the  divine  will.  Goodwin  of  the  Knowledge  of  Gody 
Vol.  II.  p.  Ill  and  189. 

The  learned  Dr.  Knight  fuppofes  this  birth  of 
divine  Wifdom  is  her  coming  forth  into  a  human 
ligure  and  fubfiftence,  or  her  entrance  into  the  fub- 
ftance  of  the  lirft  created  nature,  (that  is,  the  hu-^ 
man  foul  of  Jefus  Chrift)  at  the  moment  of  its 
creation.  By  this  means  the  Word  as  man  became 
the  head  ot  mankind,  who  were  to  be  made  by  him 
after  his  image  and  likenefs ;  and  as  firft-begotten, 
he  had  the  right  of  primogeniture  or  government 

over 


a  14  The  early  Exijlence  Disc.  III. 

over  the  reft.     See  his  Conjlderations  on  Whifton^  &c. 
p.  io8,  109,  &c. 

3.  I  remark  alfo,  that  though  the  Hebrew  lan- 
guage may  exprefs  the  eternity  of  God,  by  faying, 
*  Before  the  mountains  and  the  hills,'  &c.  yet  fince 
we  fuppofe  the  foul  of  Chrift  to  be  the  firft  of  the 
works  or  ways  of  God,  this  manner  of  expreffion 
may  more  particularly  and  exprefsly  defcribe  the 
date  of  liis  exiftence  before  this  world  was  made, 
though  it  be  not  co-eval  and  co-eternal  with  the 
Godhead. 

But  I  proceed,  fourthly,  to  mention  fome  other 
difficult  texts  which  may  derive  hght  from  this  doc- 
trine. 

If  we  can  but  fuffer  oiirfelves  to  believe  what  I 
have  intimated  before,  that  the  Sonlhi,^  of  Chrift 
does  ROt  belong  to  his  divine  nature,  but  rather  to 
his  human  foul  confidered  in  its  original  derivation 
from  God  the  Father,  and  in  its  being  appointed  to 
the  facred  office  of  the  Meffiah  ;  then  we  have  a 
moft  evident  and  obvious  interpretation  of  thofe 
fcriptures  in  the  New  Teftament,  v^hich  have  been 
attended  with  fo  much  darknefs  and  difficulty,  and 
have  given  fo  much  anxiety  and  pains  to  our  di- 
vines, viz.  John  V.  19.  '  The  Son  can  do  nothing  of 
himfelf.'  Matt,  xxiv,  36.  Mark  xiii.  32.  '  But  of 
that  day  knoweth  no  man,  neither  the  angels  in  heav- 
en nor  the  Son,  but  the  Father.'  Heb.  v.  8. 
*  Though  he  were  a  Son,  yet  learned  he  obedience  by 
the  things  which  hefuffered.'  Now  this  Sonfliip  re- 
fers to  ver.  5.  *  Thou  art  my  Son,  this  day  have  I  be- 
gotten thee.'  I  Cor.  xv.  28.  '  Then  Iliall  the  Son  al- 
fo himfelf  be  fubje^t  unto  him  that  put  all  things 
under  him,  that  God  may  be  all  in  all.'  Theie  ex- 
prefTions  found  very  harfh  if  applied  to  the  divine 
nature  of  Chrift,  but  are  verv  naturally  applicable 
to  a  being  or  fpirit  inferior  to  Godhead. 

To 


Sect.  V.  of  Chrijl's  Human  Soul.  215 

To  thefe  expreffions  I  might  add,  John  xiv.  28. 
*  The  Father  is  greater  than  I ;'  which  is  very  hard 
to  apply  to  the  divine  nature  of  Chrift,  and  to  make 
a  greater  and  lefTer  God  :  and  yet  it  feems  but  a 
poor  low  aflertion  if  our  Saviour  fpoke  it  of  himfelf 
^s  a  mere  common  man,  who  begun  to  exift  thirty- 
four  years  ago :  it  was  no  ftrange  thing  that  God 
ttiould  be  greater  than  a  man.  But  if  we  fuppofe  it 
refers  to  Chrift's  glorious  human  foul,  which  was  the 
firft-born  of  every  creature,  it  carries  in  it  fomething 
grand  and  auguft,  and  he  pays  hereby  a  fublimer 
honour  to  God  his  Father. 

All  other  places  of  fcripture  wherein  the  Son  of 
God  is  reprefented,  either  as  receiving  or  inverted 
with  fublime  powers  from  God,  or  as  bearing  any 
inferior  charatflers,  have  a  moft  natural  and  eafy 
-explication  if  they  are  applied  to  this  glorious  hu- 
man fpirit,  fometimes  confidered  as  diftinguifhed 
from  the  divine  nature,  fometimes  as  perfonally 
united  to  it,  and  that  either  in  its  own  exiftence  be- 
fore its  incarnation,  or  in  its  incarnate  ftate,  accord- 
ing as  the  context  requires:  for  fince  both  natures 
have  their  part  and  fhare  in  man's  redemption,  they 
are  thus  diftinguifhed  in  the  holy  fcripture,  fome 
expreffions  relating  more  properly  to  the  one  nature, 
fome  to  the  other,  and  fome  including  both  natures 
united.  There  is  no  need  of  paraphrafing  thefe 
fcriptures  at  large,  and  giving  an  example  how  thefe 
texts^  may  then  be  interpreted,  fince  this  key  being 
given,  the  way  lies  open  for  every  unlearned  Chrif- 
tian  to  penetrate  into  the  fenfe  of  them,  and  to  ex- 
plain many  other  fcriptures  befides  thofe  I  have  cit- 
ed, by  the  help  of  the  fame  dodtrine. 

Advan.  II.  This  doftrine  of  the  pre-exiftence  of 
the  foul  of  Chrift  not  only  explains  dark  and  diffi- 
cult fcriptures,  but  it  difcovers  to  us  many  beauties 
and  proprieties  of  expreffion  in  the  word  of  God, 

and 


±i6  The  early  Extjience  Disc.  III. 

and  cafts  a  luflre  upon  Tome  of  thofe  paffages  whofe 
juftncfs  and  beauty  were  not  before  obferved.  Let 
me  mention  a  few  of  them. 

1.  'When  man  is  faid  to  be  '  created  in  the  image 
of  God,'  Gen.  i.  2.  it  may  refer  to  the  God-Man,  to 
Chrift  in  his  pre-exiftent  ftate.  God  lays,  '  Let  us 
make  man  in  our  image,  after  our  hkenefs ;'  the 
word  is  redoubled,  perhaps  to  intimate  that  Adani 
was  made  in  the  hkenefs  of  the  human  foul  of  Chrift, 
who  was  the  firfl:  of  God's  creation,  as  well  as  that 
he  bore  fomething  of  the  image  or  refemblance  of 
the  divine  nature  itfelf :  and  hereby  Chrift  has  the 
honour  of  being  fet  up  as  the  firft  and  faireft  image, 
of  God,  and  the  grand  pattern  of  all  human  fouls 
who  were  to  bear  his  Hkenefs. 

2.  Again,  when  God  is  faid  to  *  grieve,'  to  *  re- 
pent,' to  '  be  angry,'  to  '  come  down  from  heaven,* 
to  '  ftand,'  to  *  fpeak,'  to  '  receive'  and  alfume  to 
himfelf  many  of  the  actions  and  pafiions  of  hqman 
nature,  we  are  wont  to  explain  them  as  mere  fig- 
ures of  fpeech,  employing  human  exprefiions  to 
reprefent  divine  adions  :  but  if  we  fuppofe  the  di- 
vine nature  of  Chrift  united  to  this  pre-exiftent  foul, 
then  thefe  expreffions  perhaps  may  be  taken  in  a  more 
literal  fenfe  than  wc  imagined  ;  when  he  that  was 
true  God,  by  virtue  of  this  union,  '  came  down 
from  heaven,  ftood,  fpake,  grieved,  rejoiced,'  and 
*  was  plealed,'  or  '  angry'  at  the  view  he  took  of  the 
affairs  of  men.  Dr.  Owen  in  his  Meditations  on  the 
Glory  of  Chrift^  afTerts,  that  "  it  had  been  abfurd  to 
bring  in  God  under  perpetual  anthropopathies^  as 
grieving,  repenting,  being  angry,  well  pleafed,  and 
the  like,  were  it  not  but  that  the  divine  Perfon  in- 
tended was  to  take  on  him  the  nature  wherein  fuch 
afre6:ions  do  dwell." 

3.  And  not  only  human  aftions  are  attributed  to 
God,  but  even  the  very  name  of  man  is  given  to 

that 


S  E  c  T .  V .  of  Chriji's  Human  SouL  217 

that  glorious  Being  which  vifited  the  patriarchs  of 
old  :  he  aflumed  a  human  (hape  and  appeared  as  a 
man  ;  and  even  the  foul  itfelf  might  be  fo  caHed  by 
fynec'doche,  which  puts  a  part  for  the  whole.  And 
yet  this  glorious  appearance  is  alfo  called  '  God,'  and 
the  '  Lord'  or  '  Jehovah.'  It  was  a  Man  that '  wreft- 
led  with  Jacob,'  Gen.  xxxi,  and  yet  he  is  acknowl- 
edged and  adored  as  God.  That  extraordinary  Man, 
who  is  called  the  *  Man  of  God,'  when  he  appear- 
ed to  Manoah,  Judges  xiii.  is  fuppofed  to  be  the 
Meffiah  :  his  countenance  is  defcribed  '  like  an  an- 
gel of  God,'  and  his  name  is  called  'Secret^  or  'Won- 
derful,' ver.  6.  18.*  So  in  Ezekiel's  vifion,  chap,  i. 
26.  '  upon  the  likenels  of  the  throne  was  the  ap- 
pearance of  a  man  above  :'  and  in  the  prophecy  of 
Daniel  we  meet  with  fevcral  of  his  appearances  in 
the  form  of  a  man  :  chap.  iii.  2.5.  *  The  fourth  Man 
walking  in  the  midft  of  the  burning  fiery  furnace 
was  like  the  Son  of  God.'  So,  chap.  viii.  ver.  15, 
16.  '  There  ftood  before  m.e  as  the  appearance  of  a 
tnan,'  and  this  Man  bid  Gabriel  make  Daniel  un- 
derftand  the  vifion  :  and  chap.  x.  5.  'A  certain 
Man  clothed  in  linen,  whofe  loins  were  girt  v/ith 
gold,'  is  defcribed  very  nearly  in  the  fame  torni  and 
drefs  as  Chrift  appeared  in  to  St.  John,  Rev.  i.  13. 
and  chap.  vii.  13.  '  One  like  the  Son  of  Man  came 
to  him  that  fat  on  the  throne.*  &c.  which  is  parallel 
to  Rev.  i.  7.  It  is  probable  that  moft  times  when 
the  angel  (who  is  alfo  called  God)  favoured  the  pa- 
triarchs with  a  vifit,  he  appeared  in  the  form  of  a 
man.  Thus  the  great  Theanthropos  or  God-Man 
put  on  a  human  fhape  frequently  as  a  preludium,. 
figure  and  prophecy  of  his  own  incarnation. 

Nor 

*  It  is  the  fame  word  ^73  Wonderful,  which  is  attributed  to 
Chrifl:  as  one  of  his  names,  in  Ifa.  vi.  9.  which  the  angel  here  af- 
fumes  when  Manoah  afks  his  name. 


£i8  The  early  Exijtence  Disc.  III. 

> 

Nor  can  it  be  objecled  here  that  a  human  foul  is 
not  a  man  ;  for  furely  it  may  be  called  a  man  as 
well  as  Chrift  may  be  called  an  angel,  as  he  is  often 
in  fcripture  ;  and  better  than  the  pure  divine  nature 
may  be  called  a  man  ;  which  yet  is  the  fcnle  of  thofc 
who  will  not  allow  Chrift's  human  foul  to  be  here 
meant.  The  foul  is  the  chief  part  of  the  man,  and 
St.  Paul  calls  his  own  foul  by  this  name,  viz.  a  man. 
See  2  Cor.  xii.  2,  3.  'I  knew  a  man,'  i.  e.  his  foul, 
*  whether  in  the  body  or  out  of  the  body  I  cannot 
tell.' 

4.  Another  Inftance  of  the  juftnefs  and  beauty 
of  fcripfural  language  we  find  in  Zech.  xiii.  7. 
where  the  Man  Chrift  is  called  the  '  neighbour  of 
God,'  or  the  '  man  who  is  near  him,'  as  it  may  be 
beft  rendered  ;  '  Awake,  O  fword,  againft  my  Shep- 
herd, and  againft  the  man  that  is  my  fellow'  or  neigh- 
bour, '  fiith  the  Lord  of  hofts.'  The  word  '•/T'Djr, 
whicli  we  render  my  fellow^  does  never  fignify  any 
fort  of  equality,  but  conjundion,  nearnefs  or  neigh- 
bourhood :  it  is  often  rendered  neighbour  in  fcrip- 
ture. It  denotes  the  man  that  was  with  God,  or 
near  to  God,  by  the  intimate  union  of  the  human 
foul  to  the  Godhead,  and  was  the  fhepherd  of  the 
flock  of  God,  or  the  keeper  of  Ifrael  in  all  former 
ages.  So  the  vulgar  Latin  renders  it,  Cohareniem 
mihiy  cleaving  to  me  ;  and  becaule  of  the  union  be- 
tween the  divine  and  human  nature  it  may  be  very 
properly  exprefted,   my  neighbour. 

I  might  take  occalion  here  to  remark  alfo  how 
appofitely  God  himfelf  is  fometimes  called  the  'Shep- 
herd of  Ifrael,'  Pfal.  xxiii.  1.  Pfal.  Ixxx.  i.  'He 
{b.\\\  feed  his  flock  like  a  Ihepherd,  he  ftiall  gather 
the  lambs  in  his  arm,  and  carry  them  in  his  bofom,' 
llai.  xl.  1  I.  which  is  a  prophecy  of  Chrift.,  though 
i)C  is  called  the  Lord  God  in  the  foregoing  vcrfe. 
7M"iis  language  has  great  propriety  in   it  when  we 

con  fide  r 


Sect.  V.  of  ChriJTs  Human  Soul.  219 

confider  the  human  foul  of  Chrifh  united  to  God- 
head, aftingthe  part  of  a  iliepherd  towards  the  Jew- 
ifh  nation,  'leading  them  through  the  wildernefs 
hke  a  flock,'  and  watching  over  them  as  a  fhepherd 
in  the  land  of  Canaan.  How  beaut fful  is  this  idea, 
when  we  obferve  that  both  in  prophecy  and  in  hif- 
tory,  in  the  Old  Teftament  and  in  the  New,  this 
office  is  appropriated  to  Chrift,  Ezekiel  xxxiv.  23. 
'  I  will  fet  up  one  Shepherd  over  them,  and  he  fliali 
feed  them,  even  my  fervant  David.'  John  x.  14. 
Jefus  calls  himfelf  '  the  good  Shepherd  ;'  and  St.  Pe- 
ter echoes  to  the  voice  of  Chrift,  and  calls  him  *  the 
chief  Sehpherd,'  and  the  '  Bifliop  of  fouls,'  i  Pet.  ii. 
25.  and  y.  4. 

This  feenis  to  carry  fomething  of  evidence  with 
it,  that  the  human  foul  of  Chrift  had  an  exiftence. 
before  ;  and  therefore  the  fcripture  was  careful  to 
ufe  human  language,  to  exprefs  his  offices  as  well  as 
his  perfon  and  actions.  This  will  further  appear  by 
what  follows. 

5.  This  doctrine  of  the  pre-exiftence  of  the  hu- 
man foul  of  Chrift  affords  us  a  plain  reafon  why  he 
is  called  Chrift  or  the  Memah,  in  thofe  many  places 
of  fcripture  which  reprefent  tranfadions  before  his 
incarnation,  to  fliew  that  this  very  perfon  was  anoint- 
ed to  his  offices  of  old.  So  in  i  Cor.  x.  9.  *  Nei- 
ther let  us  tempt  Chrift  as  fome  of  them  (i.  e.  If- 
raelites)  tempted  him,  and  were  deftroyed.'  Eph.  iii. 
8.  '  God  created  all  things  by  Jefus  Chrift.'  2.  Tim. 
i.  9.  '  Grace  was  given  us  in  Chrift  Jefus  before  the 
world  began.'  i  Pet.  i.  11.  '  Searching  what  man- 
ner of  tirae-the  Spirit  of  Chrift,  which  was  in  the 
prophets,  did  fignify,  when  it  teftified  beforehand 
the  fuiferings  of  Chrift.'  1  Pet.  iii.  19.  '  By  which 
alfo  he  (i.  e.  Chrift)  went  and  preached  unto  the 
fpirits  in  prifon,  which  were  difobedient  in  the  days 
of  Noah.'  Heb.  xi.  26.  '  Mofes  efteemed  the  re- 
proach 


2.20  The  early  E^ijlence  Disc.  III. 

proach  of  Chrlft  greater  riches  than  the  treafures  in 
Kgypt.'  The  word  Chrijl,  (which  is  the  fame  with 
MeJJiah  or  Anointed)  imphes  a  connexion  of  the  di- 
vine and  human  nature  j  at  leaft  it  feems  to  import 
his  human  nature  in  an  efpeciftl  manner  :  for  '  there 
is  one  Mediator  between  God  and  men,  the  Man 
Chrifh  Jefus.'  i  Tim.  ii.  5.  The  manhood  is  emi- 
nently reprefented  in  the  pcrfon  of  the  Mediator, 
though  the  Godhead  being  united,  rendered  all  his 
actions  infinitely  efficacious  and  powerful. 

6.  It  prefents  us  alfo  with  a  fair  and  rational  ac- 
count why  God  himfelf  was  called  '  the  King  of  If- 
rael,'  and  took  upon  him  the  political  government  of 
that  peculiar  nation  ;  and  we  learn  why  the  JVJeffiah 
had  alfo  this  title  given  him,  '  the  King  of  the  Jews,' 
when  we  confider  the  pre-exiftent  foul  of  the.  Mef- 
fiah  perfonally  united  to  the  divine  nature.  That 
God  was  often  called  the  King  of  Ifrael,  is  fufficient- 
ly  manifeft  in  many  places,  i  Sam.  xii.  12.  Sam- 
uel reproved  them  when  they  wanted  another  king 
to  reign  over  them,  *  while  the  Lord  their  God  was 
their  king.'  David  and  Ifaiah  often  called  God  the 
*■  Creator  of  Ifrael  and  their  King,'  '  the  Redeemer 
of  Jacob  and  his  King,'  *  the  Holy  One  of  Ifrael 
and  his  King.'  Pfal.  Ixxxix.  18.  Ilai.  xli.  21.  Ifai. 
xliii.  15.  And  in  the  vifion  of  Ifaiah,  chap,  vi,  ver. 
5.  the  prophet  fays,  '  Mine  eyes  have  feen  the  King, 
the  Lord  of  hofo,'  which  is  properly  applied  to 
Chrift  by  John  the  evangelill,  cliap.  xii.  ver.  41.  He 
is  called  the  '  King  of  glory.'  Pfal.  xxiv.  7,  9,  10, 
When  the  ark  was  brought  up  to  Zion,  he  is  enti- 
tled the  '  King  ol  Zion,'  Zech.  ix,  9.  which  is  at- 
tributed to  Chrift,  John  xii.  25.  and  the  common 
r.ame  of  the  Meffiah  was  the  King  of  Ifrael.  John  i. 
49.  Nathanacl  faith  to  Chrift,  '  Thou  art  the  Son 
of  God,  thou  art  the  King  of  Ifrael.*  All  thefe  ex- 
picfiions  are  very  natural,  andjuH:,  and  proper  when 

we 


Sect.  V.         of  Chriji's  Human  Sonl.  221 

we  confider  the  foul  of  Chrift  in  its  pre-exiftent  ftate 
united  to  the  divine  nature,  and  becoming  a  patron 
and  proteftor  of  the  holy  feed,  affuming  the  Jews, 
above  any  other  nation,  into  a  pecuHar  relation  to 
himfelf  And  upon  this  account  it  is  faid  in  John 
i.  II.  *  He  came  to  his  own,'  s^la  iSta,,  to  his  own 
property  or  poffeffion,  to  his  own  people  the  Jews, 
but  the  Jews,  his  own  fubjeds,  received  him  not. 

Now  if  we  fuppofe  the  foul  of  our  bleiTed  Re- 
deemer in  union  with  his  Godhead  to  be  the  ap- 
pointed or  anointed  King  of  the  Jewifli  church  and 
nation,  through  all  the  ages  of  that  economy,  and  if 
we  confider  that  when  he  took  flefli  upon  him  and 
came  down  to  dwell  in  the  midft  of  them,  (accord- 
ing to  the  prophecies  of  the  Old  Teftament)  he  was 
renounced,  difowned,  fcorned,  reproached,  fcourged 
and  crucified  by  his  rebellious  fubjefts  ;  and  when 
we  remember  that  all  theie  forrows  were  fuftained 
in  obedience  to  the  will  of  his  heavenly  Father,  and 
in  compaffipn  to  finful  man  ;  how  juft  and  .meri- 
torious a  foundation  does  this  lay  for  his  exaltation 
to  a  greater  and  more  extenfive  kingdom,  even  to 
be  railed  to  the  government  of  all  churches  and  all 
nations  !  He  was  King  of  the  Jews  for  many  ages 
before  he  came  in  the  llefli  :  and  when  he  rofe  from 
the  dead,  he  became  King  of  the  Gentiles,  and  Lord 
of  all  things  in  heaven  and  earth,  as  a  reward  of  his 
fufFerings.  Phil.  ii.  8.  &c.  God  at  firft  '  fet  his  King' 
of  Ifrael  '  on  his  holy  hill  of  Zion.'  Pfal.  ii.  6.  and 
when  he  had  declared  him  to  be  his  Son  at  his  refur- 
reftion,  he  fays,  '  Aik  of  me  and  I  will  give  thee,'  &c. 
So  at  his  requeft  he  *  gave  him  the  heathen  for  his 
inheritance,  and  the  uttermoft  ends  of  the  earth  for 
his  potfeffion.'  Pfal.  ii.  8.  He  was  of  old  the  '  King 
of  Jacob,'  and  when  he  had  '  vvaflied  us  from  our 
fins  in  his  own  blood,' and  became  the  '  firft-begot- 
ten  from  the  dead,'  he  had  then  a  '  new  name'  given 

him» 


22  2  The  early  Exijlence  Disc.  IIL 

him,  '  King  of  kings,  and  Lord  of  lords,'  and 
*  Prince  of  the  kings  of  the  eartli  ;'  fee  Rev.  i.  5.  and 
xix.  16.  And  though  fome  of  thefe  titles  are  di- 
vine, and  belong  to  the  divine  nature  of  Chrift  orig- 
inally, yet  here  they  are  afcribed  to  him  as  '  God 
manifeft  in  the  fiefn,'  or  as  a  man  united  to  God  ; 
nor  are  they  too  high  for  that  whole  perfon  who  was 
God  as  well  as  man.  Befides,  when  his  human  na- 
ture had  fulTered,  it  was  then  exalted  to  a  greater 
participation  of,  or  a  nearer  refemblance  to  divine 
honours  than  before. 

Let  us  dwell  a  little  longer  on  this  facred  fubjedl, 
the  enlargement  of  the  kin2;dom  of  Chrift. 

Is  there  not  fome  ground   from  fcripturc  to   be- 
lieve, that  the  great  God  governs  the  world  by  the 
intervening  agency  and  miniflration  of  good  and  evil 
angels  ?    As  his  Son  Jefus  Chrift  was  King  of  the 
Jews,  fo  the  good  angels  were  efpecialiy  employed 
under    Chrift    to  do  good   offices  for  his    people. 
And  may  we  not  fuppofe  that  the  Gentile  countries, 
thofe  ilnful  nations  of  the  earth,  were  diftributed  by 
divine  providence  under  the  dominion  or  govern- 
ment of  feveral  evil  angels  in  the  times  of  God's 
ancient  difpenfation   before  the  coming  of  Chrift  ? 
Is  there  not  reafon  to  think  that  the  heathen  nations 
for  their  abominable  iniquities,  might  be  fo  far  ju- 
dicially abandoned  of  God,  as  to  be  left  very  much 
under  the  dominion,   pofleffion   and  power  of  evil 
angels,  fince  they  '  facrificed  to  devils.'  Deut.  xxxii. 
17.     I  Cor.  X.  20.  and  chofe  devils  for  their  gods  .^ 
Beelzebub  is  the  known  god  of  Ekron.  2  Kings  i.  2, 
3.  who  is  called  *  the  prince  of  devils.'  Matth.  xii. 
24.     And  other  names  of  the  gods  of  the  Gentiles 
ure  probably  the  names  that  feveral  devils  might  af- 
fume  to  themfelves,  and  teach  the  Gentiles  to  wor- 
Ihip  them  under  thofe  names.     And  fmce  Satan  is 
called  the  '  god  cf  this  world/  2  Cor.   iv.   4.   i.  e. 

the 


Sect*.  V.  of  Chrifi^s  Human  SouL  225 

the  being  whom  the  heathen  world  worshipped,  and 
lince  he  is  called  the  *  prince  of  this  world.'  John 
xii.  31.  and  xiv.  30.  i.  e.  he  whom  the  heathen  and 
finful  part  of  mankind  obeyed  ;  may  not  evil  angels 
be  thofe  '  principalities  and  powers,'  thofe  *  fpiritual 
wickednefles  in  high  places.'  Ephef.  vi.  12.  who  are 
the  rulers  of  the  darknefs  of  this  world,  i.  e.  of  the 
dark  and  miferable  heathen  world  .'* 

Do  not  the  princes  of  Perfia  and  Grecia  feem  to 
be  fuch  evil  angels.  Dan.  x.  13.  .f*  For  the  prince  of 
Perfia  withftood  that  glorious  perfon  (whom  I  tal^ 
to  be  the  angel  Gabriel  who  talked  with  Daniel  for 
one  and  twenty  days)  when  Michael  the  arch-angel 
helped  him.  And  when  this  glorious  perfon  re- 
turned from  Daniel,  he  *  went  to  fight  with  the 
prince  of  Perfia,'  ver.  20.  therefore  the  prince  of 
Perfia  could  not  be  a  good  angel.  And  it  appears 
yet  further,  that  all  thefe  angel-princes  of  the  na- 
tions were  evil  angels,  becaufe  '  none  of  them  held 
with'  this  glorious  perfon,  i.  e.  with  Gabriel, '  none 
befides  Michael  your  prince,'  i.  e.  the  angel-gover- 
nor of  IfraeL 

Though  the  heathen  nations  were  left  under  the 
dominion  of  evil  angels,  yet  fince  Ifrael  was  God's 
peculiar  people,  may  we  not  reafonabiy  fuppofe 
God  fet  a  good  angel  over  them  to  be  a  prince,  eveft 
his  own  Son  in  his  pre-exiftent   nature,   who  was 

*  the  angel  of  the  covenant.'   Mai.   iii.    i.  and  the 

*  angel  of  God's  pfefence,'  Ifai.  ixiii.  9.  and  the 
'angel  in  whom  his  name  was.'  Exod.  xxiii.  21.  ? 
And  may  not  Chrift  himfelf  be  this  Michael  the 
arch-angel,  the  Prince  of  Ifrael  ?  It  has  been  ob- 
ferved  by  fome  writers,  that  the  fcripture  never 
fpeaks  ot  arch-angels  in  the  plural  number :  per- 
haps there  is  but  one  arch-angel,  and  that  is  Chrilf. 

Obferve  further,  that  Chriil's  kingdom 'is  diredly 
oppofite  to  the  devil's  kingdom.     His  grand  defign 

is 


224  The  early  Exijlence  Disc.  III. 

i<^  to  oppofe  and  deftroy  the  work  and  power  of  the 
devil  :  and  this  feenis  to  be  Michael's  appointed 
work  in  fcripture,  for  he  is  fonietime^  brought  in  as 
*  contending  with  devils.'  Judc  ix.  Rev.  xii.  and  as 
he  lias  other  angels  under  him  to  '  fight  againft  the 
dragon'  or  devil,  ver.  7.  fo  has  Chrift.  And  as  he 
is  called  the  Prince  of  Daniel's  people.  Dan.  x.  21. 
that  is,  the  Prince  or  King  of  Ifrael  ;  fo  is  Chrift. 
Obferve  alfo,  that  Michael  is  called  *  one,'  or  rather 
tlic  '•  firfl  of  the  chief  princes,'  as  it  is  in  the  margin^ 
Dan.  X.  13.  which  is  very  agreeable  to  the  charadler 
of  Chrift,  who  is  the  firft  and  fupreme  Angel-gover- 
nor, and  the  Prince  of  Ifrael,  who  were  God's  own 
kingdom  or  people.* 

Now  in  this  view  of  things,  when  we  confider  our 
])leued  Lord  as  having  his  dominion  extended  from 
fca  to  fea,  and  reigning  over  the  Gentile  nations 
even  to  the  ends  of  the  earth  lince  his  afcenfion  to 
lieavcn,  may  we  not  juftly  fuppofe  this  is  one  part 
of  his  exaltation,  that  by  him  'the  prince  of  this 
world  Chould  be  caft  out,'  i.  e.  turned  out  and 
defpoiled  of  his  old  dominion  among  the  nations, 
as  v;eil  as  out  of  the  fouls  of  men,  according  to 
John  xii.  31.  ?  And  that  all  thefe  evil  angels,  who 
by  divine  permifTion  were  formerly  governors  of 
heathen  kingdoms,  were  then  captivated,  fpoilcd 
and    difix)flefred   of  their   government,    and    made 

flaves 

*  Some  think  the  glorious  pcrfon  who  appeared  and  talked  with 
]Daniel,  chap.  x.  5.  was  not  Gabriel,  but  Jefus  Chrift,  becaufe  he 
is  defcribed  much  in  the  fame  manner  as  Chrift  is  defcribed,  Rev.  i. 
in  his  appearance  to  John  :  and  if  fo,  then  Michael  canflot  be 
Chrift,  but  muft  be  his  prime  minifter  in  the  government  of  If- 
rael. But  by  comparifon  of  thefe  chapters,  it  is  plain  that  this 
glorious  pcrfon  may  much  better  be  fuppofed  to  be  Gabriel  who 
convcrfed  with  Daniel,  chap.  ix.  2 1 .  and  who  is  there  called  '  the 
man  Gabriel  whom  he  had  fecn  in  the  vifion  at  the  beginning,' 
which  probably  refers  to  the  vifion  of  the  man  Gabriel  in  Dan. 
viii.  1 5.  and  then  Michael  the  arch-angel  muft  be  Clirift  the  King 
or  Prince  of  Ifra-jl. 


Sect.  V.  bf  Chrijfs  Human  Soiil,  225 

flaves  to  the  fove reign  will  of  Chrift  ?  Is  there  not  rea- 
fon  to  conceive  that  thefe  are  thofe  *  principalities  and 
powers'  which  '  he  fpoiled'  of  their  dominions,  and 
*  made  a  fhew  of  them  openly'  to  the  invifible  world, 
'  triumphing  over  them  ?'  Col.  ii.  15.*  Is  not  this 
the  *  captivity  which  he  led  captive,  when  he  afcend- 
ed  on  high  far  above  all  heavens,  that  he  might  fill 
all  things,'  i.  e.  with  his  influence,  and  fo  might  gov- 
ern all  nations.  Eph.  iv.  8,  lo.  ?  Is  it  not  upon  this 
account  that  he  is  defcribed  in  that  magnificence 
of  glory  by  the  prophet  David,  Pfal.  Ixviii.  17,  18. 
'  The  chariots  of  God  are  twenty  thoufand,  even 
thoufands  of  angels.  The  Lord  is  among  them  as 
in  Sinai,  in  his  holy  place.  Thou  haft  afcended  on 
high,  thou  haft  led  captivity  captive,  thou  haft  re- 
ceived gifts  for  men,  even  for  the  rebellious  alfo,  that 
the  Lord  God  might  dwell  among  them.'  Was  not 
this  the  day  of  his  triumph  over  Satan  and  his  an- 
gels, who  had  been  gods  and  kings,  princes  and 

lords 

*  See  the  expofitlon  of  this  text  in  the  moll:  and  the  befi:  of  our 
commentators  :  there  is  fcarce  any  thing  they  fay  upon  it  but  is 
very  confiftent  with  the  fenfe  I  give  it  in  this  place,  and  with  the 
fcheme  of  my  difcourle. 

I  confefs  Mr.  Pierce  fuppofes  thefe  principalities  and  powers 
mufl  mean  good  angels,  whom  he  believes  to  have  been  governors 
of  the  Gentile  nations  till  Chrift's  time  :  and  the  chief  reafon  he 
gives  for  it  is,  that  the  Coloffians  are  forbid  to  worfhip  them,  ver. 
1 8.  for  they  are  difpoffefled  of  their  government  by  the  exaltation 
of  Chrift  :  ■f'hereas  had  they  been  evil  angels  or  devils,  there 
would  have  been  no  need  of  forbidding  the  Chriftian  Coloffians  to 
worfhip  them. 

To  this  I  anfvver,  that  thefe  Coloffians  were  but  young  converts, 
and  might  not  kncr;/  that  thefe  were  evil  fpirits  whom  they  were 
tempted  to  worfliip,  but  only  fome  invifible  powers  by  whom  God 
governed  the  nations  in  former  times  ;  and  let  it  be  obferved  too, 
that  the  apoftle  in  the  courfe  of  his  argument  excludes  all  an- 
gels from  worfliip,  ver.  10,  and  18,  19.  and  not  merely  evil 
angels,  ver.  15. 

P 


226  The  early  Exijiencc  Disc.  III> 

lords*  of  the  nations,  when  thoufands  of  holy  an- 
gels are  reprefcnted  as  the  chariots  of  God  attending 
him  in  that  folemnity  ?  Then  he  '  led  captive'  a 
great  '  captivity,'  even  thofe  *  principalities  and 
powers'  that  had  been  the  '  rulers  of  the  darknefs 
of  the'  heathen  '  world  :'  then  '  he  received  gifts 
for  men,'  and  that  not  only  for  his  ancient  fubjefts 
the  Jews,  but  for  the  rebellious  Gentiles  alfo,  who 
had  been  the  fubjeds  of  Satan,  under  the  power 
of  the  devil,  '  led  captive  by  him  at  his  pleafure.* 
And  the  Pfalmifb  lays  it  was  all  done  with  this  dc- 
iign,  *  that  the  Lord  might  dwell  among  them,'  1.  c. 
that  the  heathens  might  become  the  people,  the 
kingdom,  the  habitation  and  fanftuary  of  God,  as 
the  nation  of  the  Jews  had  been  before ;  that  Chrift 
who  is  God-Man,  and  who  was  '  King  of  the  faints* 
or  the  holy  nation  of  llrael,  might  become  ^  King  of 
all  nations.' 

Now  what  a  glorious  fcene  of  things  opens  itfelf 
to  us  by  this  incerpretation  of  a  few  fcriptures  ?  How 
naturally  and  how  eafily  do  all  things  coincide  and 
lead  us  to  this  amazing  profpeft  of  the  victory  of 
Chrift  over  the  devil  ?  How  illuftrious  does  he  ap- 
pear in  this  difpofleffion  of  evil  angels  of  their  do- 
minions on  earth,  at  leaft  fo  far  as  to  make  them 
become  his  flaves,  and  aft  peculiarly  by  his  permif- 
fion  ?  How  magnificent  does  this  doftrine  reprc- 
fent  the  afcenfion  and  exaltation  of  our  blefled  Sa- 
viour? And  how  glorioully  does  the  God-Man 
Chrift  Jefus,  who  in  ancient  ages  was  the  *  King  of 
Ifrael,'  aggrandize  and  extend  his  prefent  title  and 
dominion  as  '  King  of  nations,'  and  '  Lord  of  all,' 
fmce  his  death  and  afcenfion  to  heaven  ? 

7.  This 

*  The  heathen  idols  or  devils  whom  they  worfliipped,  had 
fuch  names  as  fignify  their  dominion  ;  Baal  and  Bel  denote  a 
lord,  Moloch  denotes  a  king,  Adrammelech  aad  Anamnielech  de- 
note kings,  &c. 


Sect.  V.  of  Chr if  s  Human  Soul.  127 

7.  This  opinion  of  the  pre-exiftent  foul  of  Ch rift 

is   made  ufe  of  by  Dr.  Kn (in  his   Primitive 

Chrijiianity  vindicated  againjl  Mr,  ff  hijion,  p.  85.) 
to  explain  thofe  reproofs  given  to  Job  by  Eliphaz, 
Job  XV.  7.  '  Art  thou  the  firft  man  that  was  born  ? 
Waft  thou  made  before  the  hills  ?  Haft  thou  heard 
the  fecret  of  God  ?  'And  doft  thou  reftrain  wifdom  to 
thyfelf  ?'  Let  us  confider  each  of  thefe  four  fen- 
tences  diftinftly. 

*  Art  thou  the  firft  man  that  v^^as  born  ?'  M*j  T^wr©* 
ftvOpwTTw;/  iymSm  ;  *  Waft  thou  born  the  firft  of 
men  V  as  it  is  in  the  feptuagint.  Art  thou  that 
primitive  Spirit,  'the  firft-born  of  the  creation?* 
Col.  i.  15. 

*  Waft  thou  made  before  the  hills  V  Adam  was 
formed  after  the  hills,  but  this  firft  Man  the  Meffiah, 
fpeaking  of  himfelf  in  the  perfon  of  fVifdom,  fays, 
*  Before  the  hills  was  I  born,  or  brought  forth,'  Prov. 
viii.  25.  which  in  the  Hebrew  are  the  very  words  of 
Job  applied  to  the  firft  Man,  with  only  a  change  of 
the  fecond  to  the  firft  perfon  :  the  firft  Man  then 
and  the  divine  IVifdom^  or  MeJJiah^  are  all  one,  i.  e. 
by  the  perfonal  union  of  this  firft  Man  to  the  divine 
IFord  ox  Wifdom. 

*  Haft  thou  heard  the  fecret  of  God  V  The  feptu- 
agint adds  to  it,  '  Did  God  ufe  thee  as  a  counfelJor  ?* 
But  the  Meffiah  by  way  of  eminence  is  called  '  The 
Counfellor,'  Ifai.  ix.  6.  in  the  feptuagint,  '  The  An- 
gel of  the  great  council  j'  and  perhaps  it  is  he  to 
whom  God  faid,  *  Let  us  make  man.'  Gen.  i.  26. 

*  And  doft  thou  reftrain  wifdom  to  thyfelf  ?* 
Does  all  divine  wifdom  dwell  in  thee  }  It  is  only  in 
the  Meffiah  in  the  perfon  of  Chrift  '  are  hid  all  the 
treafures  of  wifdom  and  knowledge.'  Col.  ii.  3. 
From  thefe  interrogatories  put  to  Job,  Dr.  Kn 
infers,  that  the  ancients  had  a  notion  of  fuch  a  won- 
derful bein^,  fuch  a  glorious  and  firft-created  human 

P  ^  fpirit. 


iiSr  'the  early  Exijlence  Drsc.  Ill", 

fpirit.  As  for  myfclf,  I  dare  not  fay,  this  interpre- 
tation carries  full  and  fufficient  convi£lion  with  it  ; 
yet  both  the  facred  penmen  of  this  book,  as  well  as 
the  feventy  Jewiih  interpreters,  in  this  paffage  may 
be  fairly  explained  in  this  manner,  and  caft  no  un- 
favourable afped:  on  the  pfe-exiftence  of  the  foul  of 
Chrift. 

S.  This  dodlrine  in  the  judgment  of  fome  great 
authors  gives  us  a  fair  idea  of  thofe  paffages  of  fcrip- 
ture  wherein  God  is  faid  *  to  create  all  things  by 
Jefus  Chrift.'  Ephef.  iii.  9.  not  merely  by  his  divine 
nature,  but  by  him  confidered  as  God-Man,  and 
called  by  the  names  Jefus  and  Chrift.  This  I  con- 
fels  has  fomcthing  fo  fublime  in  it,  that  I  dare  not 
indulge  my  own  thoughts  too  far  on  this  fubjedt. 
Creation  is  a  divine  work,  and  the  fcripture  always 
defcribes  it  as  the  prerogative  of  God  to  create. 
Nor  can  1  believe  that  the  real  and  proper  power 
of  forming  any  thing  out  of  nothing  is  lefs  than  in- 
finite, or  that  it  can  be  communicated  to  any  crea- 
ture whatfoever.  The  light  of  nature  and  fcripture 
fully  agree  in  making  this  work  an  incommunicable 
prerogative  of  Godhead  :  nor  can  I  perfuade  myfelf 
that  God  would  give  fo  much  as  a  fhadow  of  this 
glory  to  a  mere  creature  who  was  not  perfonally  unit- 
ed to  God,  and  thereby  became  one  v/ith  God,  left 
it  Qiould  too  much  entrench  upon  thofe  divine 
titles,  prerogatives  and  operations,  whereby  he  dif- 
tinguifties  himfelf  from  his  creatures.  And  upon 
this  account  I  think  it  is  a  good  proof  that  Chrift  is 
God,  becaufe  the  fcripture  joins  him  with  the  Father 
in  the  work  of  creation. 

Yet  there  may  be  fome  proprieties  and  condecen- 
cies  in  it,  that  when  this  tirft-created  fpirit  or  foul 
of  Chrift  was  framed,  and  united  to  the  divine  na- 
ture, he  fliould  not  be  a  mere  idle  or  unactive  fpec- 
tator  of  the  firft  works  of  God.     But  I  choofe  to 

reprefent 


.Sect.  V.  of  Chijl^s  Hitman  Soul.  229 

Teprefent  this  matter  here  no  further  in  my  own 
language,  but  propofe  it  as  it  is  reprefented  by  two 
great  divines,  Dr.  Thomas  Goodwin  and  Mr.  Rob- 
ert Fleming. 

Dr.  Goodwin  in  his  treatife  of  the  Knowledge  of 
God,  page  177,  afTerts,  that  all  things  were  created 
by  Chriit,  "  he  having  been  fome  way  the  inftru- 
ment,  as  he  is  Chrift  God-Man  (anointed)  of  the 
•creation  as  well  as  (adlually)  of  redemption."  And 
though  the  Do6tor  fuppofes  the  human  nature  to  be 
then  united  to  the  Godhead  only  in  decree,  yet  he 
fays  concerning  Chrift,  page  178;  "If  he  were  at 
all  to  be  made  a  creature,  it  Was  his  due  perfonai 
privilege  to  have  been  firft  himfelf  made,  and  him- 
felf  to  have  been  God's  inflrument  in  creation,  and 
to  have  uttered  thofe  words  which  w^re  fpoken  by 
God,  *  Let  there  be  light  :'  but  for  other  ends  it 
was  fufpended."  The  fame  author  makes  it  the 
title  of  Chap.  xi.  page  180,  *'  That  Chrift  as  God- 
Man  is  the  Creator  of  all  things,  proved  by  fcripture, 
viz.  I  Cor.  viii.  6.  ^  by  whom  are  all  things.'  John 
i.  I,  2,  3.  '  All  things  were  made  by  him,  and  with- 
out him  was  nothing  made  that  was  made.'  That 
the  Logos  or  Word  con-notes  the  perfon  fuftaining 
before  God  the  perfonage  of  God-Man,  by  v/hom, 
as  fuch,  all  things  were  created."  Aad  he  interprets 
the  eighth  of  Proverbs  to  the  fame  fenfe. 

If  it  be  inquired,  how  it  is  pofTible  that  the  hu- 
man nature  of  Chrift  (even  though  it  be  united  to  the 
Godhead)  can  have  any  thing  to  do  in  the  work  of 
creation,  I  might  give  an  anfwer  to  it  out  of  this 
author's  own  words,  page  178  ;  that  is,  Chrift  might 
utter  thofe  words,  *  Let  there  be  light :'  and  as 
God's  word  and  inftrument  might  create  all  things, 
as  he  wrought  miracles  here  on  earth.  Now  to 
fpeak  that  word,  '  Let  there  be  light,'  which  the 
almighty  power  of  God  attended  with  divine  effica- 
cy. 


230  The  early  Exificnce  Disc,  III. 

cy,  was  a  moR  illuflrious  honour  put  upon  the  hu- 
man nature  or  foul  of  Chrift  ;  but  furely  it  is  not 
above  the  power  of  a  creature  to  fpeak  fuch  a  word. 
It  may  be  objc£tecJ,  That  no  words  could  be  (pokeu 
v/hen  there  was  no  air  to  form  the  lound  of  a  voice  ; 
therefore  in  the  defcription  of  Moles  this  language 
is  metaphorical,  and  fignities  the  adl:  of  the  will,  or 
a  volition  that  there  fliould  be  light. 

But  as  the  Doftor  explains  Chrift's  inftrumentali- 
ty  in  the  creation  of  the  world  by  his  way  of  work- 
ing miracles,  this  may  as  well  be  applied  to  a  voli- 
tion of  the  foul,  as  to  a  word  of  the  tongue.  Wc 
may  fuppofe  his  huiTfan  fpirit  might  as  well  will  there 
fhould  '  be  light ^  as  when  he  cleanfed  the  leper. 
Matt.  viii.  3.  he  faid,  '  I  will,  be  thou  clean.'  As  in 
that  miracle  the  human  foul  put  forth  this  volition, 
and  the  divine  power  performed  the  cure  ;  fo  in  the 
creation,  this  fame  glorious  fpirit  might  have  this 
honour  put  on  it,  as  to  exert  fuch  a  volition  concern- 
ing the  feveral  creatures,  and  the  almighty  power  or 
Godhead  united  to  it  feconded  this  volition  with  its 
own  creative  efficacy. 

Though  the  will  of  this  human  foul  might  have  no 
more  real  influence  in  caufmg  creatures  to  exift  than 
the  tongue  of  Jcfus  had  in  curing  the  leper,  yet  God 
may  be  faid  to  '  create  all  things  by  Jefus  Chrift,' 
even  as  he  wrought  miracles  by  him  ;  and  Jefus 
Chrift  himfelf  alio  may  be  properly  called  the  Crea- 
tor, inafmuch  as  the  divine  nature,  being  perfonally 
united  to  the  human  foul,  performed  this  work. 
Now  the  Godhead  cannot  be  faid  to  give  away  any 
of  its  own  incommunicable  prerogatives  to  a  mere 
creature  by  any  fublime  exprelTions  of  this  kind, 
which  attribute  the  creation  to  Chrift,  becaufe  the 
foul  of  Chrift  is  not  a  mere  creature  ;  for  by  its  near 
and  intimate  union  to  the  divine  nature,  it  becomes 

one 


Sect.  V.  of  Chrift's  Human  Soul.  231 

one  with  God  :  which  honour  is  not  given  to  any 
creature  whatlbever,  but  to  the  Man  Chrift  Jefus. 

This  rcprefentation  of  things  perhaps  may  prevent 
the  furprifing  and  offenfive  ideas  which  Dr,  Good-r 
win's  expreffions  may  raife  on  a  fudden  in  the  minds 
of  thofe  who  are  affrighted  at  every  found  they  have 
fiot  been  accuftomed  to  hear. 

Now  furely  if  Chrift,  confidered  as  God-Man  by 
way  of  anticipation,  or  in  the  decree  of  God,  be  veft- 
ed  with  this  due  dignity,  and  thus  employed  in 
creation,  it  can  never  be  fuppofed  that  the  aftuai 
cxiftence  of  his  human  fpirit,  at  that  time  in  union 
with  his  Godhead,  fhould  impair  or  diminifh  the 
duenefs  of  this  '^privilege  :  and  I  am  well  affured, 
there  is  much  more  evidence  in  fcripture  that  his 
foul  was  actually  the  firft-born  of  the  creation,  than 
there  is  that  it  was  to  have  been  fo,  and  that  this 
right  was  fufpended  4000  years,  which  is  Dr.  Good- 
win's fenfe  of  the  matter, 

Mr.  Fleming  in  his  Chriftology,  Book  III.  Chap. 
V.  page  451,  humbly  fuppofes  that  the  fecond  per- 
fon  of  the  Trinity  was  from  all  eternity  pitched  upon 
to  be  the  grand  organ  of  all  the  divine  operations, 
ad  extra  :  but  fmce  the  fecond  perfon  Is  equally  in- 
finite as  the  Father  and  Holy  Spirit,  it  is  inconceiv- 
able that  he  fhould  be  the  immediate  organ  of  the 
production  of  finite  beings,  any  more  than  the  other 
perfons  :  therefore  a  creature  was  formed  that  (hould 
have  as  much  of  Divinity  as  was  poflible  to  be  im- 
parted to  it ;  and  fince  the  very  notion  of  a  creature 
includes  imperfe6tion  when  compared  with  the  Cre- 
ator, therefore  this  creature  was  perfonaljy  united  to 
the  Son  of  God,  and  by  virtue  of  this  union  and 
relation  it  has  the  name  and  defignation  of  the  Son 
of  God.  Hence  it  comes  to  pafs,  that  fometimes 
the  perfon  of  the  Son  of  God  is  denoted  by  thcfe 
names,  Logos,  Shechinah,  Memra  ;  at  other  times  this 

organized 


SL^z  The  early  Exifience  Disc.  Ill, 

organized  creature  Is  reprefented  as  the  Son  of  God : 
then  he  fuppofes  the  angels  themfelves,  as  well  as 
Adam,  were  created  by  the  fecond  perfon  acfling 
through  this  glorious  creature  as  an  organ,  and  made 
after  the  image  of  this  Shechinah,  or  original  Man, 
though  with  various  degrees  of  perfeftion  and  re- 
femblance.  Thus  *  God  made  man  in  his  own 
likenefs.'  This  was  that  intelligent  being  that  ap- 
peared to  angels,  to  Adam,  to  Mofes,  to  the  three 
martyrs  in  the  fiery  furnace,  and  he  appeared  in  the 
fame  bright  figure  to  the  three  apoftles  in  the  mount 
of  transfiguration. 

But  rather  than  follow  thefe  great  men  all  this 
length,  and  fet  my  feal  to  every  thing  they  propofe, 
I  choofe  at  prefent  to  fay  in  the  words  of  Mr.  Flem- 
ing, that  to  give  a  nice  or  exaft  adjuftment  of  all 
thefe  things,  may  be  referved  to  Chrift,  to  teach  us 
when  Vv'e  come  to  heaven.  And  as  I  am  well  aiTur- 
ed  of  the  dodrine  of  the  Deity  of  Chrift  from  many 
fcriptures,  fo  if  there  be  any  thing  which  I  have  af- 
ferted  that  runs  counter  to  that  doftrine,  I  defire  it 
to  be  expunged  and  forgiven. 

Thus  1  have  reckoned  up  two  confiderable  advan- 
tages which  may  be  derived  from  this  do6lrIne  of 
the  pre-exiftent  foul  of  Chrift,  viz.  That  it  explains 
and  reconciles  many  dark  and  difficult  paflages  of 
fcripture,  and  it  cafts  a  new  luftre  upon  other  texts, 
whofe  beauty,  juftnefs  and  propriety  were  not  before 
fo  much  obferved.  I  proceed  now  to  mention  fome 
other  advantages  of  It. 

Advant.  III.  Another  argument  for  this  dodrine, 
drawn  from  the  confequenCes  of  it,  is,  That  It  does 
exceedingly  aggrandize  the  pcrfonal  glory  and  digni- 
ty of  our  Lord  Jefus  Chrift,  of  whom  we  never 
can  have  too  high  an  efteem,  while  we  keep  within 
the  bounds  of  icripture. 

This 


Sect.  V.         of  Chrijfs  Human  Soul.  233 

This  fuppofition  admits  and  confirms  all  the  hon- 
ours paid  him  by  other  hypothefes,  and  adds  5'et 
other  honours  to  him.  It  allows  him  all  the  fu- 
preme  dignity  and  perfeftion  of  the  divine  nature, 
and  the  titles  and  attributes  of  true  God  by  virtue 
of  the  perfonal  union,  and  it  alfo  better  fecures  and 
maintains  the  honour  of  his  Deity,  by  guarding  it 
from  thofe  inferior  attributions  and  chara<flers, 
which  otherwife  muft  be  afcribed  to  it  before  his 
appearance  in  flelh  ;  and  this  it  doth  by  propof- 
ing  a  nature  below  Godhead,  which  is  a  fitter  iub- 
jed:  of  thefe  attributions. 

It  allows  him  alfo  all  the  honourable  and  peculiar 
prerogatives  of  his  conception  and  the  birth  of  his 
body,  upon  which  account,  as  well  a?  others,  he  was 
called  the  Son  of  God. 

And  befides  this,  it  fuppofes  his  human  foul  to  be 
a  moft  illuftrious  fpirit,  which  had  a  long,  prior,  glo- 
rious exiftence  before  his  incarnation,  and  to  be  the 
firft-born  of  the  creation  of  God,  and  to  have  been 
prefent  with  the  Father,  furveying  and  approving  of 
his  works  of  creation,  and  perhaps  alfo  employed  by 
him  in  adorning  and  difpofing  various  parts  of  the 
new  created  world,  fo  far  as  any  thing  below  pure 
Godhead  was  capable  of  being  employed  in  that 
work. 

Perhaps  it  will  be  objeded.  That  this  exalts  his 
human  nature  indeed,  and  raifes  it  as  high  as  the  Ari- 
ans  have  raifed  the  notion  of  their  Logos  or  foul  of 
Chrift,  which  they  fuppofe  to  be  the  fublimeft  na- 
ture he  has,  and  call  it  his  Godhead  or  Divinity. 

But  it  may  be  eafily  replied  here.  And  what  if  we 
do  take  in  all  the  advantages  which  the  Arians  fo 
much  boaft  of,  and  thereby  fupport  our  own  faith 
more  honourably  ?  This  will  bereave  their  fcheme  of 
its  faireft  allurements  and  ftrongeft  fupports.  What 
if  we  do  advance  the  human  nature  of  Chrift  as  hio-h 

as 


234  ^^^  ^^^h  ^^[fis^^^  Disc.  III. 

as  their  Logos  f  Yet  whilft  we  flrenuoafly  maintain 
the  neceflity  of  true  and  proper  Godhead  to  belong 
to  the  perfon  of  our  Lord  Jefus  Chrift,  in  order  to 
anfvvcr  the  many  divine  names,  titles,  attributes,  op- 
erations and  worQiip,  which  are  afcribed  to  him  in 
fcripture,  we  can  be  in  no  danger  of  comphance  with 
the  Arian  error,  which  attributes  all  thefe  divine 
charadters  to  the  Man  Chrift  Jefus,  and  denies  his 
perfonal  union  to  the  Godhead. 

The  aggrandizing  of  the  Man  Jefus  has  not  been 
cfteemed  diflionourable  to  his  Deity.  Dr.  John 
Owen  affirms  the  nature  of  the  Man  Chrift  Jefus  to 
be  filled  with  all  the  divine  graces  and  perfe(5tions 
whereof  a  limited  created  nature  is  capable.  Medita" 
tions  on  the  Glory  ofChriJl^  page  112;  and  Dr.  Thom- 
as Goodwin  aflerts  the  Man  Jefus,  by  virtue  of  union 
to  the  divine  nature,  to  be  as  glorious  a  creature  as 
can  poflibly  be  made  by  God.  Vol.  III.  Book  3. 
Chap.  vii.  page  104. 

And  what  injury  can  it  be  to  our  holy  religion,  or 
what  hurt  can  it  do  the  gofpel  of  Chrift,  to  fuppofc 
his  foul  to  be  as  glorious  and  fublime  a  being  as  any 
thing  can  be  which  is  not  God  .''  This  is  doing 
honour  to  the  Man  whom  God  the  Father  delights 
to  honour,  and  in  whom  the  Godhead  dwells  bodily  : 
and  while  it  wonderfully  exalts  our  efteem  of  the 
human  nature  of  Chrift,  it  does  not  diminifti  the 
leaft  degree  of  honour  or  adoration  due  to  his  Deity. 

Nor  can  any  danger  arife  to  the  facred  dodrine  of 
the  fat isfa^^ion  and  atonement  of  Chrift,  from  this 
exaltation  of  his  perfonal  excellencies  and  honours  j 
but- rather  it  ftieds  a  new  glory  upon  this  doctrine, 
and  renders  our  blefted  Saviour  fo  much  the  fitter  to 
undertake  that  great,  that  glorious  and  dreadful 
v/ork.  Suppofe  it  ftiould  be  f,iid  that  this  human 
foul,  this  Man  Jelus  (according  to  this  opinion) is 
worth  ten  thoufand  of  us,  (as  the  people  faid  to  Da- 


Sect.  V.  of  Chriffs  Human  Soul.  235 

vid.)  Then  certainly  he  is  fo  much  the  more  proper 
perfon  to  become  a  furety  for  ten  thoufands  of  fm- 
ners  j  his  life  is  the  more  valuable  facrifice  to  redeem 
millions  of  lives ;  and  the  death  of  a  man  fo  tranf- 
cendently  excellent  is  a  fitter  price  to  ranfom  innu-r 
merable  multitudes  of  men  from  death.  Yet  the 
infinite  merit  of  his  fufferings  to  fatlsfy  for  the  infi- 
nite offences  of  mankind,  in  my  judgment,  arifes  ftill 
from  the  dignity  of  his  whole  perfon,  who  is  God  as 
well  as  Man,  and  includes  in  it  the  infinite  Deity 
united  to  a  finite  or  created  nature  j  and  probably 
for  this  reafon,  was  that  expreffion  ufed,  Ad.s  xy, 
i8.  *  God  purchafed  the  church  with  his  own  blood.' 

Advant.  IV.  This  doctrine  greatly  magnifies  the 
felf-denial  and  the  condefcending  love  of  our  Lord 
Jefus  Chrift,  in  his  ftate  of  humiliation  and  death  j 
it  cads  a  thoufand  rays  of  glory  upon  all  the  fcenes 
of  his  humbled  efl:ate  ;  it  makes  his  fubjedion  and 
obedience  to  the  will  of  the  Father  appear  much 
more  illuftrious,  and  his  charity  and  compaffion  to 
perifliing  mankind  ftand  in  a  very  furprifing  light. 

Conceive  of  this  glorious  human  fpirit,  the  only 
begotten  Son  of  God,  who  was  veiled  with  fuch  dig- 
nity before  the  creation  of  the  world,  united  perfon- 
ally  to  the  divine  nature,  and  thus  adored  by  angels, 
appearing  often  to  the  patriarchs  in  the  form  of  God, 
with  rays  of  divine  majefty,  and  governing  the  na- 
tion of  Ifrael,  or  church  of  God,  during  all  the  for- 
mer ages  :  behold  this  holy  and  happy  fpirit  defcend- 
ing  from  heaven,  to  take  upon  him,  not  flefh  only, 
but  the  likenefs  of  sinful  flefh  ;  and  according  to 
the  ancient  covenant  between  him  and  his  father, 
now  uniting  himielf  to  animal  nature  in  very  mean 
and  defpicable  circumftances,  and  adually,  really  and 
(enfibly  feeling  the  hardihips  of  poverty  and  a  low 
eftate  :  fee  that  illuftrious  being  v;ho  had  been  fur- 
rounded  with  minjftering  angels  for  many  ages,  com- 

intr 


2,36  The  early  Ex'tjlence  Disc.  Ill, 

ing  into  our  world  with  all  the  marks  of  poverty 
and  meannefs  :   behold  one  higher   than  angels,   fu- 
preme  above  principalities  and  powers,  thrones  and 
heavenly  dignities,  made  a  '  little  lower'  than  angels, 
by  beino;  confined  to  fiefh  and  blood,  or  made  for  a 
little  while  {^p^x^  t»)   *  lower  than   the  angels,  and 
even   below  the   common  rank  of  men,   brought 
forth  in  a  flable,  befide  the  ox  and  the  afs  ;  this  very 
being  himfelf  was  united  to  the  fie fh  and  limbs  of 
an  helplefs  infant,  wrapt  in  fwaddling  bands,  and  laid 
to  fleep  in  a  manger  :  fee  this  glorious  fpirit,  who 
was  rcplenifhed  with  all  the  treafures  of  wifdom  and 
knowledge  neceflary   for   his  illuftrious  pre-exiftent 
ftate,  cramped  and  confined  in  its  operations  by  the 
feeble  engine  of  the  body  of  a  babe,  and  willingly 
fubmitting  to  have  a  veil  of  darknefs  caft  over  its 
moft  fublime  inteileftual  qualifications,  and  recover 
his  ideas   by  human  degrees  :  for  the   child  '  Jefus 
grew  in  wifdom  and  knowledge,  as  he  grew  in  ftature.' 
Luke  ii.     Contemplate  this  mofl   excellent  being 
enduring  all  the  feeble  and  innocent  frailties  of  an 
infant  ftate,   wearing   out  the   years  of  childhood 
among  the  poor  and  necefTitous  children  in  the  lower 
ranks  of  life,  himfelf  the  reputed  (on  of  a  carpenter, 
and  fubjeft  to  his  earthly  parents  ^  he  that  was  with 
God  when  he  built  the  heavens,  and  faid,  *  Let  there 
be  light ;'   the  firft  among  thofe  '  fons  of  God  who 
Ihouted  for  joy  when  he  laid  the  foundations  of  the 
earth,'  behold  him  now  perhaps  fweating  and  toil- 
ing with  the  faw  and  the  hammer  (as  tradition  tells 
us)  to  make  ploughs  and  harrows  and  yokes  for  ox- 
en :  conlider  this  bleffed  foul,  the  ancient  ornament 
of  heaven,  and  the  brighteft  created  fpirit  there,  now 
Ipending  thirty  years  together  in  utmoft  obfcurity, 
who  had  lived   for  four  thoufand  years  in  the  midft 
of  divine  fplendours  :  trace  him  wandering  through 

the 

*  It  is  either  for  a  (hort  feafon,  or  in  a  fmall  degree. 


Sect.  V.  of  Chrifs  Human  Soul.  zff 

the  villages  from  town  to  town,  hungry,  thirfty,  and 
weary  :  follow  this  illuftrious  man  travelling  on  foot 
to  preach  the  gofpel,  attended  with  a  few  poor  filh- 
ermen,  inftead  of  the  chariot's  of  God  and  the  le- 
gions of  angels,  legions  and  chariots  that  waited  on 
him  at  Mount  Sinai,  when  in  majefty  and  terror 
he  delivered  the  law  :  confider  this  very  perfon 
abufed,  reproached,  and  called  a  blafphemer  and  a 
devil,  who  was  the  faireft  image,  and  the  delight  of 
God  his  Father,  and  rejoicing  always  in  his  prefence 
before  the  earth  or  her  mountains  were  made  :  look 
upon  this  innocent,  this  holy  foul  arraigned  at  the 
impious  tribunal  of  Pilate,  and  condemned  to  the 
ftiameful  crofs  as  a  fcandalous  malefadlor. 

See  the  ancient  and  original  King  of  Ifrael,  who 
had  made  David  and  Solomon,  and  all  their  race, 
his  deputies  for  many  generations ;  fee  him  crowned 
with  thorns  inftead  of  glory ;  fee  him  fcourged,  buf- 
fetted,  nailed  to  the  curfed  tree  between  two  thieves, 
his  hands  and  feet  pierced,  his  limbs  ftretched  out 
in  grievous  torture,  and  himfelf  groaning  and  ex- 
piring in  blood  and  anguifh. 

Behold  this  original  favourite  forfaken  of  God 
his  Father  in  that  dreadful  hour  of  darknefs,  and 
aflaulted  by  the  armies  of  hell  with  rage  and  impu- 
dence and  horrid  temptations  :  think  of  this  holy 
foul  juft  departing,  his  foul  by  the  force  of  exquif- 
ite  torment  perhaps  driven  out  of  the  facred  man-, 
..^lion  of  his  flefh,  even  that  *  body'  which  the  Fa- 
ther '  had  prepared  for  him  ;'  he  was  banifhed  out 
of  this  world  by  thofe  very  criminals,  thofe  mer- 
cilefs  rebels  for  whofe  falvation  he  came  down  to 
dwell  in  it. 

Think  of  that  ancient  darling  of  heayen,  now 
made  the  fport  of  the  Jewifh  rabble,  a  facrifice  both 
to  the  fury  of  men  and  to  the  arrows  of  vindidive 
juftice,  while  he  was  amazed  with  inward  agonies, 

and 


1^8  The  early  ExiJIence  Disc.  III. 

and  '  his  foul  exceeding  forrowful  even  unto  death,' 
when  *  the  fword  of  God  awoke  againft  the  fhcp- 
herd  oP  his  Ifracl,  '  againft  the  man  that  was  his 
neighbour,  his  companion'  before  the  angels  were 
made. 

Colledl  all  thefe  ftrange  and  aftonifhing  ideas  to- 
gether, furvey  them  in  one  view,  and  fay,  how  di- 
vinely glorious  was  the  love  of  God  in  parting  with 
fuch  a  Son  from  his  bofbm  !  How  amazing  was  the 
condefcenfion  and  felf-denial  of  this  glorious  Saviour 
in  giving  himfelf  for  us  i  How  inimitable  was  his 
fubmiffion  to  his  heavenly  Father's  will !  His  zeal 
for  his  Father's  honour,  and  his  godlike  charity  and 
compafiion  to  fmful  man  !  When  we  contemplate 
his  holy  foul  in  his  pre-exiftent  and  exalted  ftate, 
foreknowing  and  furveyingall  thefe  indignities,  thefe 
agonies  and  deaths,  and  yet  refolving  to  defcend  in- 
to flefli  at  his  Father's  propofal,  and  to  endure  them 
all  for  the  redemption  of  fmners,  to  what  an  incon- 
ceivable height  of  facred  aftonifhment  doth  this 
raife  all  the  wonders  of  his  painful  life  and  his  love  1 
and  how  doth  it  awaken  all  that  is  tender  in  the 
bofom  of  a  Chriftian,  and  penetrate  the  very  heart 
with  divine  affedion  and  gratitude- to  the  Son  of 
God  his   Saviour  ! 

When  we  conceive  of  this  pre-exiftent  foul  of 
Chrift,  this  glorious,  this  holy  and  happy  fpirit,  with 
pleafure  confenting  to  his  Father's  propofil  of  this 
moft  furpriling  abafement  and  bloody  agonies,  it 
gives  us  an  example  of  fuch  profound  humility, 
fuch  ablblute  obedience  to  God  his  Father,  and 
fuch  unipcakable  love  to  finful  men,  as  far  furpafles 
the  greateft  inftanccs  that  he  ever  gave,  or  ever  was 
capable  of  giving  while  he  was  here  upon  earth, 
if  we  fu})pofe,  (aecvording  to  the  common  opinion) 
that  he  was  merely  born,  and  trained  up  for  this 
(crvice  without    his  own   previous   confent.     This 

idea 


Sect.  V.  of  Chrifs  HumaA  Soul.  i^p 

idea  of  the  love  of  Chrift  anfwers  thofe  fublime 
chara6ters  which  the  apoftle  gives  of  it,  Ephef.  iii. 
18,  19.  It  is  a  love  that  has  lengths  and  breadths 
in  it,  that  has  heights  and  depths  ;  it  is  a  love  that 
palTes  knowledge. 

You  will  reply  perhaps.  That  mod  part  of  this 
reprefentation  is  true  in  fome  fenfe,  if  you  only  fup- 
pofe  the  divine  nature  of  our  Lord  Jefus  Chrifb  ex- 
iftent  before  his  incarnation,  and  confenting  that  his 
human  nature  Ihould  fuffer  all  this. 

I  anfwer.  Many  of  thefe  things,  by  the  help  of 
tropes  and  figures,  may  be  faid  concerning  the  Deity 
of  Chrift,  or  '  God  manifcft  in  the  flelh  ;'  but  if  wc 
leave  out  the  figure  of  communication  of  properties, 
and  fpeak  in  fuch  plain  and  natural  terms  as  (crip- 
ture  feems  to  ufe  generally  on  this  occafion,  it  fig- 
nifies  only  God's  will  that  the  Man  Chrift  fhouid 
fuffer  thefe  forrows,  and  that  the  Man  Jefus  paf- 
fively  confented  to  fuffer  them  when  it  was  revealed 
to  him,  that  he  was  born  and  made  for  this  purpofe. 
But  the  divine  nature  itfelf  could  really  fuffer  noth- 
ing of  all  this  ;  the  utmoft  condefcenfion  of  the 
Godhead  was,  that  it  ftood  related  to  the  Man  who 
endured  thefe  fufFerings  :  (and  infinite  condefcenfion 
it  was  indeed,  for  *  God  manifeft  in  the  flefh'  to 
be  thus  difhonoured  and  unglorified.)  But  the 
Godhead  itfelf  is  impaflible  ftill,  and  cannot  really 
fuffer  pain  or  lofs  ;  nor  undergo  proper  fenfible  hu- 
miliation, (hame  or  forrow. 

Whereas  by  aggrandizing  the  human  nature  of 
Chrift,  by  this  dodrine  of  his  pre-exiftent  ftate,  we 
fee  that  very  fame  glorious  being  itfelf  who  fuffered 
all  this,  adually  leaving  the  bofom  or  beatifying 
prefence  of  his  Father,  really  divefting  himfelf  of 
his  primeval  glories  and  joys  in  the  literal  feofe,  and 
without  a  figure,  and  freely  devoting  his  very  felf  to 
all  thefe   calamitous   circumftances  :    we   fee   that 

very 


i.^c  The  early  Exijience  Disc.  IIL 

very  fame  fpirit  defcending  from  heaven  to  take  a 
body  upon  him  that  he  might  be  capable  of  all  thefe 
various  ftages  of  mifery,  and  of  fuftaining  thefe 
feenes  of  forrow,  anguilh  and  death,  perfcvering  in 
his  refolutions  till  the  dreadful  work  was  all  fin- 
ilTied. 

Now,  where  we  can  explain  the  language  of 
fcripture  in  a  literal  and  proper  fenfe,  where  we  can 
alio  by  this  literal  fenfe  do  unfpeakable  honour  to 
God  the  Father,  and  his  love  in  fending  fuch  a  Son, 
to  Jcfus  the  Saviour,  and  his  grace  in  coming  do^vn 
from  heaven  to  fuffer  fuch  forrows,  and  at  the  fame 
time,  can  lay  a  juft  foundation  for  raifmg  our  own 
love,  and  zeal,  and  gratitude  both  to  the  Father  and 
the  Son,  to  fuch  unknown  and  fuperior  degrees,  and 
can  fet  before  our  eyes  fuch  an  aftonilhing  example 
of  humility,  charity,  and  felf-deniaJ ;  furely  thefe 
are  fuch  advantage  to  the  Chriftian  fcheme,  and  fuch 
honours  to  the  bleffed  gol'pel,  as  (hould  not  be  flight- 
ly  rejected. 

It  (liould  be  alfo  confidered  that  the  Arians  raife 
a  very  common  and  plaufible  objedion  againtt  the 
vulgar  explication  of  the  Trinity  and  the  divinity  of 
Chrift,  becaufe  that  fcheme  allows  no  real  felf-emp- 
tying,  no  literal  and  proper  abafement  and  fuffering 
of  the  Son  of  God,  but  only  a  relative  abafement 
by  being  united  to  the  Man  who  did  fuffer.  The 
author  of  the  Sober  Appeal  to  a  Turk  or  an  Indian, 
endeavours  to  expofe  the  common  fcheme  of  the 
dodrine  of  the  Trinity  ;  becaufe  it  fuppofes  only  a 
"  relative  humiliation,  a  relative  of  nominal  fuffering 
of  the  Son  of  God  by  his  uniting  himfclf  to  a  man,, 
while  he  himfelf  really  fuffered  nothing,  underwent 
no  diminution,  but  was  all  the  while  pofleifed  of  the 
higheft  glory  and  of  the  lame  unchangeable  blclied- 
nefs."  Page  145.  Whereas  this  dodrine  of  the 
pre-exiftcnce  of  the  foul   of  Chrift  fets  the  whole 

fcheme 


Sect.  V.  of  Chrifis  Human  Soul.  241 

fcheme  of  the  felf-denial  and  fufferings  of  Chrlft,  in 
as  glorious  and  advantageous  a  light  as  their  doc- 
trine can  pretend  to  do  ;  and  yet  at  the  fanie  time 
fecures  the  Divinity  of  Chrift,  together  with  all  the 
honours  of  its  condefcending  grace,  by  fuppofing 
this  pre.-exiftent  foul  always  perfonally  united  to  his 
divine  nature.  Thus  all  this  fort  of  pretences  for 
the  fupport  of  the  Arian  error  is  deftroyed  at  once, 
by  admitting  this  do(flrine. 

Advmi.  V.  This  dodrine  of  the  pre-exiftent  foul 
of  Chrift,  not  only  cafts  a  new  luftre  upon  feveral 
parts  of  the  gofpel,  and  difplays  the  glories  of  the 
perfon  of  Chrift,  and  the  wonders  of  his  love  in  a 
fairer  light,  but  it  alfo  enables  us  to  defend  the 
dodlrine  of  the  Deity  of  Chrift  with  greater  juftice 
and  fuccefs  againft  many  other  cavils  of  the  Socinian. 
and  Arian  writers  ;  for  while  we  keep  this  doftrine, 
in  our  eye,  we  are  by  no  means  conftrained  to  in- 
terpret any  expreffion  in  the  Old  Teftament  con- 
cerning the  divine  nature  of  Chrift,  which  carries 
in  it  fomething  inferior  to  the  majefty  of  Godhead  : 
here  we  have  a  fubjett  proper  to  receive  thefe  mean- 
er attributions.  There  is  no  need  to  call  the  mere 
Godhead  of  Chrift  a  Man^  an  Angel,  a  MeJJenger ; 
there  is  no  need  to  animate  a  human  (hape  with 
pure  Deity  in  order  to  wreftle  with  Jacob,  to  eat 
and  drink  with  Abraham,  to  appear  in  the  form  of 
a  flame  in  the  bufh  to  Mofes,  to  travel  through  the 
wildernefs  on  a  cloudy  pillar  in  the  fight  of  all  Ifrael, 
in  order  to  dire6l  the  motion  of  their  camp  :  there 
is  no  need  to  fuppofe  the  pure  Godhead  talk- 
ing with  Jolhua,  and  converfing  familiarly  with 
Gideon,  nor  holding  a  plumb-line  in  his  hand 
while  he  ftood  upon  the  wall  in  the  view  of 
Amos. 

The  Arian  will  tell  us,  that  thefe  things  feem  to 

be  too  mean  and  low  condefcenfions  for  the  great 

Q^  God 


242  The  early  ExijUnce  Disc.  III. 

God  of  heaven  and  earth  to  practife ;  and  tlience 
they  infer,  that  the  perfon  to  whom  thefe  things  are 
afcribcd  cannot  be  true  God.  Behold  then  this 
glorious  Spirit,  the  Son  of  God,  the  foul  of  Jefus 
Chrift,  the  Man  pcrfonally  united  to  the  divine  na- 
ture appearing  to  perform  thefe  aftions,  to  fuftain 
thefe  inferior  charaf^ers,  and  to  folve  all  this  difficul- 
ty ;  and  yet  he  is  rightly  called  GoJ,  Lord^  Jehovah, 
and  has  the  perfedions  and  honours  of  Godhead 
afcribed  to  him  j  for  he  is  God  as  well  as  man, 
though  his  human  nature  is  the  immediate  agent  in 
thefe  inferior  tranfaftions. 

Ativan.  VI.  As  this  dodrine  cafts  a  beauty  upon 
various  paflages  of  fcripture,  and  upon  the  whole 
fcheme  of  the  Chriftian  faith,  fo  there  is  not  one 
fcripture,  nor  one  point  or  article  of  our  faith  that 
can  receive  any  evil  influence  from  it,  no  danger- 
ous confequences  (that  I  know  of)  can  poflibly  at- 
tend it.  Some  of  the  mofh  zealoQs  and  learned  de- 
fenders of  the  facred  Trinity  have  acknowledged 
to  me,  that  they  could  fee  no  danger  of  herefy  in 
it,  nor  any  injury  to  facred  truth,  though  they  them- 
felves  had  not  feen  this  dodtrine  yet  in  a  convincing 

And  as  there  is  no  article  of  the  Chriftian  faith 
that  is  endangered  by  it,  fo  neither  does  it  alter  any 
of  the  particular  fchemes  of  dodrine  which  divines 
of  various  parties  have  efpoufed.  You  may  ftill  fol- 
low the  fentiments  of  John  Calvin,  or  Arminius,  or 
the  intermediate  fchemes  of  Monfieur  Amyrald  and 
Mr.  Baxter  ;  for  this  dodtrine  makes  no  innovation 
in  all  the  peculiar  matters  of  dilpute  between  thefe 
great  men,  but  fets  the  whole  contrivance  of  our 
lalvation  according  to  any  of  their  fchemes  in  a  bet- 
ter light,  and  throws  perhaps  an  impartial  brightnefs 
upon  the  gofpel,  though  it  (hould  be  explained  in 
any  of  their  particular  method?. 

Nor 


Sect.  V.  of  Chrljl^s  Human  Soul.  243 

Nor  does  It  in  theleafi:  interfere  with  any  particu- 
lar fchemes  which  men  have  invented  to  folve  the 
difficulties  of  the  blefled  do6trine  of  the  Trinity. 
If  this  fentiment  of  pre-exiftence  be  allowed,  the 
Godhead  of  the  facred  perfons  may  ftill  be  explained, 
either  according  to  the  ancient  Athanafian  fchemcj 
(which  bilhop  Pearfon  and  bifhop  Bull  have  defend- 
ed) or  according  to  the  modern  or  fcholaftic  Atha- 
nafianiim,  {which  Dr;  Cheynell,  Dr.  Owen,  Dr. 
South,  bilhop  Stillingfleet,  and  others,  have  well  dif- 
played)  or  according  to  the  hypothefis  of  Dr.  Fow- 
ler, the  late  bifhop  of  Gloucefter,  or  that  of  the  late 
learned  Mr.  John  Howe,  or  according  to  the  fenti- 
ments  of  the  great  and  learned  Dr.  John  Wallis,  an 
eminent  member  of  the  aflembly  of  divines.  This 
fentiment  of  the  pre-exiftent  foul  of  Chrift  ha§  a 
friendly  afpeft  upon  any  fcheme  that  maintains  the 
Godhead  of  the  facred  Three :  and  may  be  eafily 
affumed  and  engrafted  into  any  one  of  them  :  but 
the  Socinian  and  Arian  errors  are  inconfiftent  with 
it,  as  1  have  explained  it. 

To  conclude  this  laft  fet  of  arguments  on  this  fub- 
je<5l,  I  beg  leave  briefly  to  recapitulate  them  in  this 
manner.  There  are  many  dark  and  difficult  texts' 
of  fcripture  which  have  puzzled  interpreters  in  fev- 
eral  ages,  and  which  have  hung  heavy  upon  the  va- 
rious fchemes  that  fupport  the  dod:rine  of  the  Deity 
of  Chrift.  Now  fuppofe  there  could  be  one  fingle 
clue  found  out,  which  leads  us  into  fuch  a  folution 
of  all  thefe  difficulties,  and  fuch  an  interpretation  of 
thefe  fcriptures,  which  has  the  following  advan- 
tages attending  it,  viz. 

I.  Which  gives  the  moft  natural  and  obvi* 
ous,  and  literal  fenfe  ;  fo  that  every  common  read- 
er that  had  no  preconceived  notions  or  fchemes  of 
thought,  would  readily  run  into  at  the  very  hear- 
ing of  it : 

0^2  2.  Which 


244'  '^^^^  ^^^'b  E.xifie;ice  Disc.  III. 

2.  Which  puts  learned  men  to  no  trouble  of  fig- 
ures and  metaphors,  fuch  z^  prolepfes  ;  i.  e.  fpeaking 
of  things  before  they  are  done  j  ox  catachrefes^  i.  e,- 
calling  the  eternal  God,  without  a61ual  onion  to 
human  nature,  a  Man,  or  an  Angela  or  a  Meffenger^  a 
Captain,  &c. 

3.  Which  is  moft  confiftent  with,  and  mod 
agreeable  to  all  other  parts  of  the  word  of  God,  botli 
in  the  Old  Teftament  and  in  the  New,  and  renders 
the  expofition  of  many  other  texts  eafier  and  plainer 
than  before,  and  fets  the  feveral  parts  of  fcripture  in 
a  beautiful  harmony  : 

4.  Which  interferes  with  no  particular  fcheme  of 
divinity,  nor  makes  any  alterations  in  the  important 
articles  of  our  faith  ;  and  thus  it  does  not  widen 
the  common  differences  of  the  feveral  parties  of 
Chriftians,  but  freely  allows  each  of  them  their  own 
fentiments  in  the  common  controverfies  of  religion  : 
and  yet, 

5.  Which  aflifts  us  to  anfwer  the  objeftions  of 
our  opponents  againft  the  Divinity  of  our  bleffed 
Saviour,  and  alfo  allures  them  to  embrace  the  truth  : 

6.  Which  aggrandizes  the  perfonal  glories  of  our 
Lord  Jefus  Chrift,  and  raifes  his  condefcenfion  and 
his  love  to  moft  amazing  degrees : 

7.  Which  fpreads  a  new  lullre  over  the  whole  gof- 
pel  of  Chrift,  and  the  various  tranfaftions  recorded 
in  the  word  of  God  : 

I  fay,  fuppofe  fuch  a  fingle  clue  were  found  out 
to  lead  us  into  the  underftanding  of  the  holy  fcrip- 
ture in  fuch  a  manner  as  I  have  defcribed,  1  would 
humbly  afk,  whether  it  does  not  bid  fair  for  the 
truth  of  the  gofpel,  and  the  very  meaning  of  the 
lacred  writers  ?  And  whether  it  has  not  fufficient 
force  and  allurement  in  i*-  to  invite  our  aflent  ?  Such 
is  the  dodrine  of  the  pre-exiftence  of  the  human  foul 
©f  Chrift. 

SECT. 


Sect.  VL  of  ChriJTs  Human  Soul.  245 


SECT.      VI. 

Objedions  anfwered. 

When  any  doctrine  has  been  proved  by  fuf- 
fieient  force  of  argument,  there  may  be  flill  various 
difficulties  that  remain  to  perplex  it.  But  if  thofe 
difficulties  are  not  of  equal  force  or  evidence  with  the 
arguments  that  have  been  before  produced  for  the 
fupport  of  it,  we  may  reafonably  give  our  afTent  to 
the  dodrine,  and  wait  till  Providence  may  afford  a 
fairer  light  to  fcatter  the  clouds  that  hang  upon  it. 
There  is  one  learned  author,*  who  has  written  upon 
this  fubjed,  fpeaks  with  fo  much  freedom  as  to  tell 
us,  that  in  this  doctrine  of  the  pre-exiftent  foal  of 
Chrift,  the  difficulty  of  every  thing  vaniflies,  except 
that  of  bringing  men  off  from  expounding  the  fcrip- 
ture  by  human  authorities  as  the  key  of  divine  ora- 
cles ;  and  without  doubt  (faith  he)  there  the  dif- 
ficulty will  lie,  when  all  is  faid.  So  confident  is  he 
of  the  truth  of  it,  and  that  on  folid  and  fufficient 
reafon. 

However,  that  I  may  make  it  appear  that  the  dif- 
ficulties or  objections  which  attend  this  dodrine  may 
have  a  fair  lolution  given  them,  I  have  left  the  lall 
fedtion  for  this  purpofe,  in  which  they  are  rang- 
ed in  a  fair,  juft  order;  and  I  hope  the  oppofers,  if 
any  fuch  be  found,  will  have  no  reafon  to  complain 
that  I  have  not  difplayed  them  in  their  complete 
light  and  ftrength  ;  and  perhaps  by  this  means  the 
tender  and  fcrupulous  Chriftian  may  have  Ibme 
ftumbling-blocks  removed,  that  lay  in  his  way,  and 
be  more  eafily  induced  to  receive  this  doctrine  and 
to  pay  proper  honour  to  our  blelTed  Lord. 

Objea. 

*  Mr.  Jof.  HufTey,  who  was  really  a  man  of  learning,  though 
He  had  fome  odd  and  peculiar  fentiments. 


246  The  early  Exijlence  Disc.  III. 

OhjeSl.  I.  Is  not  Chrift  frequently  in  fcripturc 
called  a  man  ?  Now  this  glorious  being  with  fuch 
extenfive  powers  as  you  defcribe,  is  fbmething  above 
a  human  foul ;  it  is  far  above  angels,  and  therefore, 
though  it  be  united  to  a  body,  it  will  not  make  a 
man. 

Anfw.  I.  The  name  of  man  denotes  a  nature, 
which  is  made  up  of  a  mind  or  fpirit  united  to 
an  animal  body  in  human  fhape.  But  the  name 
mgel  fignifies  originally  a  meflenger,  and  denotes, 
the  charafter  of  an  office  fuftained  by  a  fpirit,  either 
with,  or  rather  without  a  human  body,  and  is  moft 
frequently  fo  ufed  in  fcripture  ;  though  angels  have 
often  appeared  in  human  Ihapes,  being  appointed 
by  the  great  God  to  aflume  fuch  a  (hape  on  proper 
occafions. 

Anjw.  2.  All  the  idea  which  I  have  of  a  human 
foul,  is  this,  viz.  a  created  mind  or  fpirit  which 
hath  underflanding  and  will,  and  rational  pow- 
ers, and  which  is  fit  to  be  united  to  a  human  body, 
in  fuch  a  manner  as  to  exert  the  powers  of  a  man, 
to  feel  the  appetites  and  fenfibilities  and  paffions 
of  a  man,  as  to  receive  impreflions  or  fenfations 
(whether  pleafant  or  painful)  by  the  means  of  that 
body,  and  is  alfo  able  to  aduate  and  influence  all 
the  animal  powers  of  that  body  in  a  way  agreeable 
to  human  nature.  Now,  though  the  powers  of  the 
human  foul  of  Chrift  may  be  as  much  fuperior  to 
the  moft  exalted  man  or  angel,  as  the  powers  of 
the  moft  exalted  m:\n  are  fuperior  to  the  powers 
of  an  ideot  ;  yet  this  does  not  hinder  it  from  being 
properly  called  a  human  foul,  fuppofmg  it  ftill  capa- 
ble of,  and  fit  for  fuch  an  union  to  a  human  body, 
as  I  have  defcribed. 

Anfw.  3.  The  powers  of  the  human  foul  of 
Chrift,  in  his  now  glorified  ftate,  are  reprefented  in 
the  word  of  God  to  be  fo  extenfive  beyond  and 

jvbove 


Sect.  VI.  of  Ckrijl's  Human  Soul.  247 

above  men  or  angels,  that  might  give  as  juft  an  oc- 
cafion  for  this  objedlion  as  any  thing  I.  have  alTcrt- 
ed  concerning  his  pre-exiftent  (late,  and  yet  he  is 
ft  ill  a  man.  What  large  and  comprehenfive  fac- 
ulties of  underftanding  and  will  may  be  commu- 
nicated to  a  glorified  creature,  is  far  above  our  ikill 
to  determine  :  now  Chrift  was  'in  glory,'  or  was 
a  glorified  creature,  before  he  was  *  in  flefli,'  even 
before  the  world  was  made.  John  xvii.  5.  And 
therefore  his  ancient  powers  in  the  pre-exiftent  ftate 
might  be  very  great,  and  yet  his  foul  might  ftill  be 
a  human  foul. 

But  if  no  mere  creature  were  capable  of  fuch 
powers  and  honours  as  are  attributed  to  Chrift  in 
his  exalted  ftate,  yet  we  cannot  determine  what 
vaft  and  amazing  capacities  fuch  a  creature  may 
be  endued  with,  who  was  always  perfonally  united 
to  God  ;  and  it  is  in  this  view,  it  is  Chrift  as  a  maix 
united  to  Godhead,  who  has  fuch  extenfive  powers 
as  may  fit  him  to  govern,  and  to  judge  the  world, 
as  I  have  ftiewn  in  a  former  difcourfe,  to  which  I 
refer  the  reader. 

I  add  further,  that  it  was  the  perufal  and  ftudy 
of  fome  of  thofe  fcriptures  wherein  fo  vaft  and 
extenfive  a  knowledge  and  power  are  attributed  to 
the  Man  Jefus  in  his  prefent  glorified  ftate,  that  led 
the  way  to  my  more  eafy  belief  of  the  powers  and 
glories  of  his  ancient  ftate  of  pre-exiftence  :  and 
thence  I  thought  I  might  infer,  that  fince  the  Man 
who  has  thefe  amazing  glories  and  powers  now, 
was  once  without  them  here  on  earth  ;  therefore 
that  fame  human  foul  might  be  with  God  the  Fa- 
ther from  the  beginning  of  the  world  j  might  enjoy 
fome  part  of  thefe  powers  and  glories,  and  yet  for 
a  feafon  diveft  himfelf  of  them  at  his  incarnation, 
and  then  be  reftored  to  them  again  with  a  moft  il- 

luftrious 


248  The  early  Exijience  Disc.  III. 

luftrious  addition   as   a   reward   of    his   fufferings. 
John  xvii.  5. 

Object.  II.  Some  perfons  have  been  ready  to  cry 
out  againft  this  doftrine,  as  though  it  fuppofcd  the 
pre-exiftent  nature  or  natures  of  Chrift  to  be  united 
to  a  mere  carcafs,  if  it  were  united  only  to  an  animal 
body  without  a  foul  or  fpirit. 

Anfw.  I.  In  ancient  and  more  ignorant  ages, 
this  ipight  perhaps  be  a  ftumbling-block  to  fome 
weaker  philolophers,  who  would  mingle  their  mil- 
taken  philofophy  with  their  Chriftianity,  and  falfely 
imagined  that  an  animal  body  was  a  mere  dead  car- 
cafs, without  fome  immaterial  being  in  it,  fome  fu- 
perior  vital  foul  or  Ipirit  :  but  in  the  prefent  age, 
when  it  is  generally  believed  by  the  beft  philofophers, 
that  animal  bodies  may  have  animal  life  in  and  of 
themfelves,  and  all  correfpondent  animal  motions 
and  powers,  without  any  fpiritual  intelligent  think- 
ing fubftance  fuperadded  to  them,  this  objedtion 
vanifhes.  Chrift's  pre-exiftent  foul  (united  to  his 
divine  nature)  affumed  a  living  animal  human 
body  when  he  became  incarnate  ;  for  it  is  now 
agreed  that  the  human,  thinking,  rational  foul  does 
not  give  animal  life  to  the  organized  body,  which 
life  arifes  from  the  circulation  of  the  blood,  infpira- 
tion  and  exfpiration  of  air,  &c. 

Anjw.  2.  But  fuppofe  the  human  body  were  life- 
lefs,  without  a  rational  foul,  why  may  not  Chrift's 
rational  pre-exiftent  foul  be  united  to  this  body, 
and  give  life  to  it  as  well  as  a  new  created  foul  ? 
Therefore  this  objedion  vanifhes  in  all  the  views  of 
it. 

Obje5l.  III.  How  can  you  fuppofe  fo  glorious  a 
being  as  you  have  defcribed,  who  was  prefent  at  the 
creation  of  the  world,  who  governed  the  nation  of 
Ifrael,  and  tranfadted  the  affairs  of  the  church  for 
four  thoufand  years,  (hould  lofe  all  its  vaft  treafure 

of 


Sect.  VI.         of  Chriji's  Human  Soul.  249 

of  ideas  and  its  extenfive  faculties,  and  become  ig- 
norant as  an  human  infant,  and  grow  up  by  degrees 
to  knowledge  and  wifdom  ?  Yet  this  is  aflerted  con- 
cerning Chrift  in  his  childhood.  Luke  ii.  52.  '  Je- 
fus  increafed  in  wifdom  and  ftature.' 

Anfw.  If  fuch  a  fentiment  as  this  is  can  be  fairly 
accounted  for  according  to  realbn  and  fcripture, 
then  the  objectors  muft  allow  that  it  adds  a  moft 
aftonilhing  luftre  to  the  humility,  condefcenfion, 
felf-denial  and  love  of  our  bleffed  Lord.  Now  let 
us  fee  whether  it  may  not  be  explained  according 
to  the  common  laws  of  union  between  a  human 
foul  and  body. 

Amongft  thefe  laws  of  this  union,  which  are  ap- 
pointed by  God  our  Creator,  it  is  evident  from  man- 
ifold experience  that  this  is  one,  viz.  That  though 
the  foul  may  have  in  itfelf  never  fo  rich  ideas,  or 
powers  never  fo  glorious  and  extenfive,  yet  while 
it  is  united  to  animal  nature  in  this  manner,  it  can 
exert  them  no  farther  than  the  organs  of  the  ani- 
mal will  admit,  or  than  thofe  organs  are  fit  to  aflift 
in  fuch  operations.  There  have  been  many  in- 
ftances  wherein  perfons  of  eminence  and  fkiil  in  arts 
or  fciences,  have  had  the  brain,  with  all  the  traces 
and  im.ages  which  were  imprelTed  upon  it,  fo  con- 
founded by  fome  difeafe,  that  they  have  loft  almofb 
all  their  ideas,  and  all  their  ikill  ;  they  have  forgot 
even  their  native  language,  and  they  knew  not  their 
own  names  :  fometimes  by  flow  degrees  they  have 
recovered  their  ideas  and  words  again,  and  perhaps 
in  fome  years  have  arrived  at  their  former  excellen- 
cies ;  the  brain  has  recovered  its  old  traces  and  im- 
ages again,  and  the  foul  has  recognized  them  with 
pleafure,  and  that  in  muchlefs  time  than  it  was  firll 
employed  in  acquiring  them.* 

Yet 

*  This  may  be  reprefented  by  an  eafy  fimilitude.  Suppofs  an 
organift  of  exquifite  flcill  in  mufic  (honld  have  all  the  pipes  of  his 

inflrument 


250  The  early  Exijience  Disc.  Ill, 

Yet  further,  let  us  fuppofe  the  foul  of  the  greats 
eft  philofopher  or  mathematician  united  to  the  body 
of  a  new-born  infant  ;  this  foul  would  find  no 
images  or  traces  on  the  brain  of  the  babe  corref- 
pondent  to  his  ancient  ideas  ;  but  on  the  other  hand, 
it  would  receive  inccffint  impreffions  and  fenfations 
from  this  infant  brain  (according  to  the  laws  of  uni- 
on) derived  from  the  fcnfible  objefts  around  it,  or 
tlje  natural  inward  motions  and  appetites  that  at- 
tend the  infant  ftate  ;  and  thus  all  its  ancient  and 
learned  ideas  would  be  as  it  were  obliterated  for  a 
feafon,  or  rather  concealed  and  overwhelmed,  or  bur- 
ied by  the  perpetual  and  impetuous  impreffions  of 
animal  nature,  and  by  the  conftant  importunity  of 
fuch  fenfations  and  images  as  belong  to  a  new-born 
child. 

It  is  true  indeed  that  fuch  a  learned  foul  would  re- 
cover its  own  ideas  by  much  fwifter  degrees  than 
one  that  had  never  pofletled  them  ;  and  it  would 
form  proper  traces  and  images  on  the  young  human 
brain  with  much  greater  fpeed  and  facility  than  oth- 
er children  could  attain  them,  whofe  fouls  never 
had  thefe  learned  ideas. 

And  is  it  not  poffiblc  that  this  may  be  the  cale 
of  the  holy  child  Jefus  ?  His  glorious  foul  might 
fubmit  to  have  its  former  numerous  and  fublime 
ideas  at  its  firft  union  to  animal  nature,  fo  concealed 
and  overwhelmed  by  the  importunate  and  over- 
bearing impreffions  of  infant-animal  nature,  that 
it  might  recover  them  again  only  by  fuch  degrees  as 
tlefh  and   blood   would  admit  ;    and   thus   he  was 

*  made 

inftrumcnt  filled  with  mud,  he  could  neither  excite  with  his  hand, 
nor  receive  with  hii  car  any  of  thofe  rich  varieties  of  found  which 
belong  to  the  organ,  till  by  degrees  the  bellows  and  pipes  were 
cleanfcd  ;  and  thus  by  degrees  he  would  form  and  hear  broken 
pieces  of  tunes,  till  the  muddy  obftacle  being  quite  removed,  the 
grateful  harmony  will  be  recovered,  and  the  former  fldll  of  the  or- 
ganifl  appear. 


S  E  G  T .  V I .  of  Chri/s  Human  Soul.  %  5 1 

^  made  for  a,  little  while  lower  than  angels,'  as  Heb. 
ii.  9.  and  fo  might  '  grow  in  wildom  and  knowledge 
and  ftature'  together,  as  in  Luke  ii.  52,  And  in- 
deed, if  we  compare  this  with  Ifa.  ix.  6.  and  Ifa.  vii. 
14,  115.  thofe  verfes  may  be  naturally  explained  to 
this  fenfe.  He  was  a  *  child  born,'  he  was  *  a  fon 
given  i'  '  a  virgin  conceived  and  bare  a  fon,  and  call- 
ed his  name  Immanuel  :  butter  and  honey  did  he 
eat,  that  he  might  know  to  refute  the  evil  and  choofc 
the  good  ;'  i.  e.  he  was  nouriflied  with  the  common 
food  wiiich  they  gave  young  children,  that  he  might 
grow  up  by  degrees  to  human  underftanding, 
and  knowledge  of  diftindtion  between  good  and 
evil. 

It  feems  alfo  agreeable  to  the  hiftory  of  the  gofpel, 
that  our  bleffed  Lord  attained  the  knowledge  of 
things  by  much  fwifter  degrees,  and  far  greater  facil- 
ity than  common  children  ;  for  at  twelve  years  old 
he  was  found  dilcourfing  with  the  dodors  in  the 
temple ;  and  when  he  firft  preached  to  the  Jews, 
they  wondered  how  this  man  (bould  '  know  letters, 
having  never  learned.*  John  vii.  15.  And  then  in 
his  manly  ftate,  he  knev/  his  near  relation  to  God, 
and  his  pre-exiftent  glory,  as  many  of  his  own  fpeech- 
es  teftify.  According  to  this  reprefentation,  Mr» 
Fleming  in  his  Chriftology,  Book  iii.  p.  455.  iup- 
pofes  "  the  notices  of  former  things  to  be  {o  f-;r  ob- 
literated from  the  memory  of  this  glorious  fpirit,  as 
was  juft  neceflary  to  his  bemg  fitted  for  a  ftate  of 
trial  in  a  human  body.  But  he  did  fo  far  remember 
his  former  exaltation  and  glory  in  general,  as  fre- 
quently to  mention  it,  and  to  plead  it  fometimes  in 
prayer  to  his  Father  ;"  particularly  in  John  xvii.  5. 

I  am  not  fo  fond  of  this  reprefentation  of  things 
as  to  perfuade  myfelf  that  my  readers  will  readily  re- 
ceive fuch  a  ftrange  alteration  of  fcenes  pafiing  over 
the  foul.of  oi^r  blelTed  Lord  ;  efpecially  if  they  have 

never 


252  The  early  Exijtence  Disc.  III. 

never  accuflomcd  their  underftandings  to  indulge 
any  opinion  different  from  the  common  track  :  yet 
1  can  declare  folemnly,  that  after  my  beft  fearches 
into  the  word  of  God,  I  can  fee  nothing  unfcriptural, 
abfurd  or  dangerous  in  fuch  a  reprefentation  ;  and 
1  am  well  affurcd  it  gives  the  higheft  honour  to  our 
blelied  Redeemer  for  this  furprifmg  inftance  of  his 
obedience  to  his  Father,  and  condefcending  love  to 
mankind  :  nor  is  there  any  thing  we  can  imagine 
that  will  fet  his  admirable  felf-denial  and  humility, 
and  his  inimitable  love  in  a  nobler  light;  or  more 
aggrandize  the  love  of  the  Father  in  parting  with 
fuch  a  Son  out  of  his  bofom,  and  confining  him  to 
fuch  a  ftate  of  union  to  a  body,  and  fuch  amazing 
humiliation. 

Objed.  IV.  Is  it  not  faid  frequently  in  the  New 
Teftament,  that  Chrift  was  exalted  to  glory  and  hon- 
our, and  to  the  government  of  all  things  after  his 
relurreftion,  as  a  reward  of  his  fufFerings  and  death  ? 
Now  if  the  human  foul  of  Chrift  in  its  pre-exiftent 
ftate,  being  in  union  with  the  divine  nature,  had 
glory  and  happinefs  before  the  world  was,  and  might 
be  employed  in  moft  glorious  works,  even  at  the 
creation  of  the  world,  and  afterwards  in  the  works 
of  Providence  ;  then  how  can  this  excellent  fpirit 
be  faid  to  be  exalted  as  a  reward  of  his  fufferings, 
by  having  the  government  of  the  world  given  to  him 
after  his  refurredion,  or  by  being  advanced  to  glory 
and  honour  and  happinefs  in  heaven  ? 

Ar.Jw.  1.  I  have  already  fliown,  that  how  great 
and  glorious  foever  the  powers  of  Chrift  were  before 
his  incarnation,  yet  he  might  be  made  governor  only 
of  the  church,  or  of  God's  chofen  people  the  Jews, 
during  all  former  ages  of  his  pre-exiftent  ftate,  and 
thus  he  was  called  *  the  King  of  the  Jews ;'  but  after 
his  fuflcrings,  he  was  advanced  to  foverelgnty  over 
all  nations,  and  made  '  head  over  all  things,  and  all 

nations 


Sect.  VI.         of  Chrifs  Human  Soul.  253 

nations  of  mankind  for  the  church's  fake.'     Eph.  i. 

penult. 

Anfw.  2.  What  affairs  he  tranfadled,  arid  what 
honours  he  received  during  his  pre-exifteiat  (fate 
among  the  children  of  men,  was,  for  the  mod  part, 
in  his  Father's  name,  and  as  fuftaining  the  charadler 
and  perfon  of  God  his  Father  :  now  fince  his  fufter- 
ings  and  death,  he  is  advanced  to  receive  thefe  hon- 
ours in  his  own  name,  as  well  as  raifed  to  a  govern- 
ment of  much  larger  extent.  Before  the  creation 
he  had  no  honour  from  creatures,  and  after  the  cre- 
ation he  had  not  fuch  fublime  and  diftind  honours 
paid  to  his  human  nature  before  his  incarnation,  as 
he  has  now  in  heaven - 

Anfw.  3.  It  is  very  plain,  that  though  the  hu- 
man foul  of  Chrift  might  enjoy  a  glorious  degree  of 
honour  and  happinefs  before  his  incarnation,  yet 
having  properly  the  nature  of  a  human  foul,  it  could 
not  arrive  at  its  perfedlion  of  appointed  happinefs, 
but  by  its  union  with  a  human  body  ;  even  as  the 
fpirits  of  departed  faints  enjoy  a  glorious  degree  of 
honour  and  happinefs  in  the  world  of  fpirits ;  yet 
neither  their  honour  nor  happinefs  is  complete  till 
the  refurrection,  when  they  fhall  be  rejoined  to  im- 
mortal bodies,  and  their  happinefs  and  honour  fliall 
be  completed  by  unknown  fenfations  of  pleafure. 
Befides  that  fenfible  furvey,  thofe  various  fenfations 
and  eye-fight  of  their  own  exaltation,  which  they  ac- 
quire by  the  means  of  their  union  to  a  glorified  body, 
is  a  farther  kind  of  honour  and  happinsfs  than  in  a 
feparate  ftate  they  were  capable  of. 

Thus  the  human  foul  of  Chrift,  having  pafled 
through  the  forrows  of  life,  and  the  painful  fenfations 
that  arofe  from  its  union  to  our  flefh  in  fuch  poor 
and  infirm  circumftances,  having  fuffering  fhame 
and  reproach,  and  a  thoufand  indignities  from  men, 
and  having  felt  the  agonies  of  death  as  a  ranfom 

for 


I 


i^4  The  early  ■  Exijience  Disc.  JIL 

for  them,  was  exalted  both  to  greater  honour  and 
greater  happinefs  at  his  refurreftion  and  afcenfion, 
by  being  united  to  a  body  raifed  in  power  and  in 
glory,  than  he  could  have  been  without  it. 

1.  He  was  exalted  to  greater  degrees  of  happi- 
nefs, by  receiving  all  that  intenfe  plealure,  and  thofe 
unknown  fenfations  of  delight,  which  are  capable 
of  being  conveyed  to  a  fpirit  by  the  medium  of  a 
body,  a  glorious  body  ;  and  this  as  a  reward  of  his 
fenfations  of  pain  in  the  body  of  his  humiliation. 

2.  It  is  moil  probable  that  he  is  and  (liall  be  ex- 
alted alfo  to  greater  degrees  of  honour,  by  feeing 
and  hearing,  or  taking  in  perhaps  by  fome  corporeal 
methods,  all  the  honours  done  to  him  by  the  whole 
human  and  maicrial  creation,  and  in  beholding  with 
a  vaft  and  compreheniix'e  furvey^  all  the  fubje£kion 
and  obedience  of  the  known  and  unknown  worlds 
of  fpirits  dwelling  in  flelh,  paid  to  him  ;  and  par- 
ticularly, all  the  acclamations  and  worfliip  of  all 
the  glorified  faints  paid  to  his  divine  perfon  as 
dwelling  in  a  human  body,  and  this  as  a  reward  of 
that  fhame  and  reproach,  and  thofe  uneafy  pafiions 
which  he  might  fuilain  in  animal  nature  in  his  hum- 
bled ftate. 

Thus  it  appears  how  the  foul  of  Jefus  Chrift, 
though  it  had  very  great  powers  and  dignities  and 
bleffednefs  in  its  pre-exiftent  ftate,  yet  may  receive  a 
moft  fenfible  addition  to  its  honours  and  happinefles 
when  he  was  raifed  from  the  dead  and  afcended  ta 
heaven  in  a  glorified  body.  There  are  parallel 
inftances  in  fcripture  which  confirm  this  account 
of  things.  John  xvli.  22.  our  Saviour  fays,  the 
Father  '  loved  him  before  the  foundation  of  the 
world  ;'  and  yet  his  Father's  love  is  faid  to  be  con- 
tinued to  him,  and  to  be  bcftowed  on  him  on  the 
account  of  this  obedience.  John  xiv.  10.  *  If  ye 
keep  my  commandments  ye  fhaJl  abide  in  my  love^ 

even 


Sect.  V I.         of  Chriji's  Human  Soul.  2  j  j  . 

even  as  I  have  kept  my  Father's  commandments  and 
abide  in  his  love.*  John  x.  17.  'Therefore  doth 
my  Father  love  me,  becaufe  I  lay  down  my  life.' 
We  muft  naturally  fuppofe  this  to  imply  Tome  ad- 
ditional inftances  and  effefts  of  the  Father's  love  be- 
ftovved,  or  to  be  beftovved  on  Chrift,  becaufe  of  his 
obedience  unto  death  :  and  what  additional  inftances, 
manife Rations  or  effecls  of  the  Father's  love  did  the 
Man  Jefus  receive,  if  his  exaltation  to  fuperior  de- 
grees of  honour  and  glory  in  heaven  be  not  reckon- 
ed among  them  ? 

Objetl.  V.  If  the  human  foul  of  Chrift  had  a  be- 
ing before  his  incarnation,  how  comes  it  to  be  expreft- 
ed,  that  God  was  '  manifeft  in  the  fieOi,'  and  that 
*  the  Word  was  God,'  and  this  *  Word  was  made 
flefti  ?'  Would  it  not  have  been  piuch  more  proper 
to  fay,  the  foul  of  our  Lord  Jefus  Chrift  was  thus 
made  flefti,  or  manifefted  in  flefti  ? 

Anfw.  I.  The  moft  ufual  way  of  expreffing  the 
incarnation  of  Chrift  is,  by  reprefenting  the  Son  of 
God  as  coming  in  the  flefh,  Chrift  coming  into  the 
world,  the  Son  of  God  made  of  a  woman,  the  Son 
of  God  fent  into  this  world,  &c.  This  is  the  moft 
frequent  language  of  the  New  Teftament  :  now 
thefe  words  do  moft  properly  include,  if  not  chiefly 
denote,  the  foul  of  Chrift  under  the  character  of  the 
Mcfliah.  This  was  the  Son  of  God  which  was  in- 
timately united  to  flefh  and  blood.  It  is  polhbie 
that  the  name.  Son  of  God,  may  not  fo  diredly  re- 
fer to  the  Godhead  of  Chrift',  as  it  does  to  his  hu- 
man foul  and  his  body  ;  for  fince  the  idea  of  fonftiip 
carries  in  it  the  notion  of  derivation  and  dependence, 
and  inferiority,  we  Ihould  not  without  great  neceflity 
apply  fuch  ideas  to  Godhead,  whofe  very  nature  is 
to  be  fupreme,  underived  and  independent.  This 
hath  been  made  to  appear  more  at  large  in  an  eflay 
on  that  name,  i/je  So?i  of  God, 

It 


256  1'iie  early  Exijicnce  Disc.  IIL 

It  is  granted  there  are  two  or  three  places  which 
rcprcfent  the  divine  nature,  or  God  himfelf,  as  ap- 
pearing in  the  fleili  ;  and  this  may  be  written  iu 
thofe  few  places,  with  a  fpecial  dellgn  to  aggran- 
dize the  myftery  of  the  incarnation,  and  fpread  a 
divine  glory  over  it :  always  remembering  that  it  is 
a  great  truth  that  God  himfelf  was  incarnate,  thougii 
the  more  immediate  fubje6t  of  union  to  fleQi  was 
the  human  foul. 

Anfw.  2.  It  might  be  noted  alfo,  that  that  evan- 
gelical interpreter  of  fcripture.  Dr.  Goodwin,  ex- 
plains the  Logos  or  PVord  (even  as  it  is  defcribed  in 
the  firfl  chapter  of  St.  John's  gofpel)  fo  as  to  include 
the  idea  of  God-Man,  and  to  take  in  the  human 
nature  of  Chrifl:  as  well  as  the  divine,  when  *  the 
Word  was  with  God,'  and  when  '■■  all  things  were 
made  by  him.'  That  author  indeed  fuppofes  the 
human  nature  to  be  united  at  that  time  only  in  the 
divine  idea,  and  by  way  of  prokpfis  or  anticipation  : 
but  if  we  fuppofe  the  term  Lops  or  liWd  to  in- 
clude the  human  foul  then  actually  united  to  the 
divine  nature,  (which  Dr.  Goodwin  takes  only  pro- 
leptically)  then  it  will  follow,  that  when  the  evange- 
lift  adds,  ver.  14.  'The  Word  was  made  flefh,'  or 
took  a  body  upon  him,  he  plainly  includes  the  in- 
carnation both  of  the  human  foul  and  the  Godhead 
together.  The  Logos^  i.  e.  the  human  foul  united 
to  Godhead,  or  if  you  choofe  rather  to  fay,  the  eter- 
nal Word  in  union  with  the  human  foul,  became 
incarnate. 

ObjeB.  VI.  This  doftrine  expounds  fome  of  thofe 
fcriptures  to  another  fenfe,  which  were  wont  to  be 
employed  for  the  defence  of  the  Divinity  of  Chrift^ 
and  that  by  applying  them  to  his  pre-exiftent  foul  : 
it  exalts  his  human  nature  indeed,  but  perhaps  it 
weakens  the  facred  article  of  his  divine  nature,  by 
withdrawing  fome  of  the  proofs  of  it. 

Anfw. 


Sect.  VI.  of  Chiji^s  Human  Soul.  i^y 

Anfzv.  There  are  many  and  fufficient  arguments 
drawn  from  the  word  of  God  to  fupport  the  Deity 
of  our  Lord  Jefus  Chrift,  which  cannot  with  any 
evidence  or  truth  or  juftice  be  turned  to  another 
fenfe  j  and  indeed  it  is  by  fuch  arguments  as  thefe 
that  doftrine  muft  be  eftabhOied  ;  for  if  it  be  poffi- 
ble,  with  fairnefs  or  juftice  to  the  text  and  context,  to 
interpret  a  fcripture  otherwife,  and  apply  it  merely 
to  the  pre-exiftent  foul  of  Chrift,  it  can  never  be  a 
convincing  and  effeclual  proof  of  his  Divinity. 

It  is  no  injury  to  any  caufe  to  remove  thofe  argu- 
ments from  it  which  are  in  themfelves  feeble  and  un- 
fupporting,  left  when  the  adverfary  finds  feveral  of 
them  trifling  and  utterly  infufficient,  he  fhould  be 
tempted  to  defpife  all  the  reft.  If  there  be  any  of 
thoie  fcriptures  which  are  ufed  to  prove  any  doc- 
trine, that  in  their  moft  natural,  moft  proper,  and 
moft  rational  fenfe,  and  in  their  relation  to  the  con- 
text, do  rather  fignify  fomething  clfe,  then  they  had 
much  better  be  dropt  or  left  out  in  the  proof  of  that 
doftrine. 

So  if  thefe  fcriptures  cited  in  this  difcourfe  are  in 
a  much  more  natural  and  proper,  eafy  and  obvious 
manner  applied  to  the  pre-exiftent  foul  of  Chrift  than 
they  are  or  can  be  to  the  pure  divine  nature,  then  it 
is  better  to  drop  them  in  that  argument  than  to  in- 
lift  upon  them,  for  all  the  reafon  in  the  world  will 
lead  us  to  give  them  the  moft  obvious  and  natural 
expoiition,  and  apply  them  to  this  pre-exiftent  fpirit. 
We  ought  not  to  deal  falfely  with  the  word  of  God, 
nor  give  it  an  unfair  and  improbable  fenfe  under 
pretence  of  fupporting  the  greateft  truth.  The 
gofpel  of  Chrift  needs  not  our  feeble  artifices. 

It  fliould  be  obferved  alfb,  that  feveral  of  thofe 

pafTages  of  fcripture,  which  may  be  applied  to  the 

pre-exiftent  foui  of  Chrift,  cannot  properly  be  applied 

to  it  confulered  alone  by  itfelf,  without  the  peribnal 

R  union 


2^8  'i^he  early  Exijience  Disc.  III. 

union  to  his  Godhead  ;  fuch  are  thofe,  Col.  i.  Heb. 
i.  Prov.  viii.  &c.  And  in  this  view  they  continue 
to  fupport  the  Divinity  of  Chrifl,  as  well  as  they  did 
before  :  and  in  my  opinion,  when  they  are  fet  in 
this  light,  they  render  thefe  proofs  of  his  Divinity 
more  dcfenfible.  and  at  once  maintain  the  facred  idea 
of  Chrift  our  Mediator  as  the  great  Theanthropos,  or 
God -Man. 

Objeci.  Vir.  Some  may  imagine,  and  have  been 
ready  to  objCLt,  that  this  notion 'paves  the  way  to 
lead  us  into  the  Arian  camp,  (ince  it  agrees  in  fo 
many  parts  with  their  fentiments  of  their  Logos, 
which  they  Crill  the  divine  nature  of  Chrift. 

Arifzv.  This  objedlion  has  been  anfwered  in  part  al- 
ready ;  nor  is  there  any  fuch  danger  while  we  main- 
tain the  ncceflity  of  tiie  union  of  the  divine  nature 
to  this  pre-exiftent  fpirit  in  order  to  make  it  ca- 
pable of  feveral  names,  titles,  honours  and  prerog- 
atives that  are  afcribed  to  it  in  fcripture,  which  are 
incommunicably  divine. 

But  on  the  other  hand,  why  may  not  the  charity 
Of  a  reader  give  it  another  turn,  and  fay,  it  paves 
the  way  for  the  Arians  to  come  into  the  fentiments 
of  the  orthodox,  and  believe  the  Divinity  of  Chrift, 
fince  it  removes  fome  of  their  greateft  bars  and  ob- 
jeftions  againft  our  common  faith  ?  It  tranfplants 
their  ftrongeft  allurements  and  faireft  colours  of 
argument  into  our  own  do6trine,  and  thereby  ren- 
ders their  pretences  to  fupport  their  own  fcheme 
more  feeble,  ineffedual  and  needlefs.  It  enjoys  the 
advantages  which  their  fcheme  pretends  to,  without 
any  of  thofe  ditiiculties  and  inconveniencies  with 
which  their  opinion  is  encumbered. 

And  I  cannot  but  hope,  that  if  ever  the  modern 
refmers  of  the  Arian  error  arc  allured  and  drawn  to 
receive  the  truth,  it  mud  be  by  the  m.cans  of  this 
dodlrine,   and  the  happy  conlequences  which  attend 

it. 


Sect.  VI.  of  Chriji*s  Human  Sou/.  i^c) 

it.  Perhaps  if  this  doctrine  had  been  let  in  its 
faireft  light,  and  piibliQicd  to  the  world  In  the  days 
of  the  Nicene  council,  it  might  have  prevented  the 
fatal  and  bloody  contefts  that  fucceeded  in  the  fol- 
lowing ages  ;  it  might  inve  been  a  happy  medium 
in  the  providence  ol  God  to  have  reconciled  the  an- 
cient Arians  to  the  Catholic  faith.  This  is  the  fen- 
timent  of  the  late  reverend  and  learned  writer,  Mr. 
Robert  Fleming,  in  his  dircourfe  on  this  fubjecl:,  in 
his  third  volume  of  Chrifiology. 

Objed.  VIII.  Could  I'uch  a  dodrine  as  this  be 
true,  and  5'et  the  difciples  of  Chrifl  know  nothing 
of  it  in  our  Saviour's  life-time,  nor  the  apoftles  ex- 
prefs  it  in  plainer  language  in  their  writings,  nor 
the  primitive  fathers  declare  it  as  the  fentiment 
of  the  church,  nor  even  our  own  divines  in  theie 
enlightened  days  fince  the  reformation  proclaim  it 
to  the  world  ? 

Anfw.  As  for  the  difciples  during  the  life  of 
Chriit,  they  may  be  fuppofed  to  have  the  fame  opin- 
ions concerning  the  foul  of  the  Mefiiah  which  many 
of  the  Jews  had  in  and  before  their  times  ;  and  that 
was,  that  the  Meffiah's  foul  was  formed  from  the  be- 
ginning of  the  world  :*  and  if  they  thought  all  hu- 
man 

*  Bifhop  Fov/ler  cites  this  paffage  from  an  ancient  book  of  the 
jews,  called  Pefikta  ;  "  After  God  had  created  the  world,  he  put 
his  hand  upon  the  throne  of  his  glory,  and  brought  out  the  foul  of 
the  Meiiiali,  with  all  his  attendants,  and  faid  to  him,  Wilt  thou 
heal  and  redeem  my  fons  after  fix  thoufand  years  I  He  anfwered, 
I  am  willing  fo  to  do.  Agaui  therefore  God  faid  unto  him,  And 
art  thou  willing  to  fuffer  chaftifements  for  the  purging  away  of 
their  Iniquities  ?  And  the  foul  of  the  MelTiah  anfwered,  1  will 
fuffer  thjem,  and  that  with  all  my  heart." 

The  late  Dr.  Thomas  Burnet,  of  the  Chartef-houfe,  in  his  book 
De  Statu  Mortuorum  iff  Refurgentium,  p.  249.  fpeaks  thus  ;  J^u- 
iia'i  £3*  inter  Patres,  istc.  i.  e.  the  Jews  and  feme  among  the  Chrif- 
tian  fathers  have  determined,  that  the  foul  of  the  Melliah  had  an 
exiftence  before  his  incarnation,  and  before  the  very  origin  of  the 
Jewifh  nation,  before  the  law,  and  through  the  whole  economy  of 
R  2  the 


lido  The  early  Exijienct  Disc.  III. 

man  fouls  had  a  pre-exiftence,  (which  fome  learned 
men  fuppofc)  then  doubtlcis  they  believed  the  foul 
of  Chriit  to  have  the  fame  prerogative. 

Befidcs  the  feveral  expreffions  which  otir  Saviom* 
ufed  concerning  his  *  coming  down  from   heaven/ 

*  his  returning  thither  again,'  '  his  being  fent  by  the 
Father  not  to  do  his  own  will,'  his  praying  for  the 
reftoration  of  a  '  glory  which  he  had  before  the 
world  was,'  and  his  fpeaking  of  the  love  of  God 
which  he  enjo3'ed  '  before  the  foundations  of  the 
world,'  all  thefe  expreffions  might  juftiy  and  natu- 
rally lead  them  into  the  idea  of  the  pre-exiftcnt  foul 
of  Chrift,  fince  it  is  pretty  evident  that  they  had  but 
very  little  thought  or  belief  of  his  divine  nature  be- 
fore his  refurreftion.  Some  of  their  own  expreffions 
feem  to  intimate  their  aflent  to  this  dodlrine  of  his 
prc-exiilcnt  foul,  when  they  tell  him,  '  Now  we  are 
fure  that  thou  cameft  forth  from  God.'  John  xvi. 
28,  29,  30.  And  they  feemed  to  underftand  him 
in  the  ]it:iral  fenfe,  and  without  a  parable  or  figure, 
when  he  told  them,  he  '  came  forth  from  the  Fa- 
ther, and  came  into  this  world,'  but  he  was  now 

*  leaving  this  world,  and  returning  to  the  Father.' 

As  for  the  writings  of  the  apollles  St.  Peter  and 
Paul,  thefe  feem  to  manifeft  this  doctrine,  if  the 
expofition  which  I  have  given  of  various  parts  of 

their 

the  law  and  the  prophets.  Now  if  they  fuppofed  this  foul  joined 
with  the  Logos,  (by  which  he  means  his  divine  nature)  they 
might  well  agree  that  this  was  tJie  ShecIAna}y  ot"  the  patriarchs  and 
the  prophets,  and  that  thefe  motions  and  returns  from  heaven  to 
eartli,  and  his  appearances  whether  in  human  fliapc  or  not,  raay  be 
attributed  to  the  Mefiial\," which  can  never  belong  to  mere  Divinity. 
And  indeed  I  can  fcarce  underftand  Juftin  Martyr  and  other  of 
the  fathers,  who  from  the  invilibllity,  iniiiiity  and  omniprefence  of 
God  the  Father  would  prove  that  he  never  appeared,  neither  could 
he  defcend  or  afcend,  or  c!iant;c  his  place  ;  for  unlefs  the  foul  of 
the  jMefliah  d".d  prc-cxift  in  union  with  the  Logos  (tliat  is,  his  Di- 
vinity) 1  cannot  fee  Jiow  thefe  argument'',  drawn  from  invifibility 
and  omniprefence,  can  be  of  any  force  withaegard  to  God  tlie  Fa- 
ther any  more  tlian  to  God  the  Son. 


Sect.  VI.  of  Chriji's  Human  Soul.  261 

their  epiftles  be  juft  and  true.  The  apoftle  John 
fpeaking  fo  often  of  *  Chrift's  coming  in  the  flefli,' 
feems  to  manifeft.that  this  was  his  conception  of  the 
matter,  as  though  he  fuppofed  his  foul  to  have  an 
exiftence  before. 

As  for  the  primitive  writers  of  Chriftianity  of 
the  firft  two  or  three  hundred  years,  they  exprefs 
themfelves  in  fo  inaccurate  and  confufed  a  manner 
concerning  the  pre-exiftent  nature  of  our  Lord  Jefus 
Chrift,  that  it  is  hard  to  fay  what  was  their  fenfc, 
or  whether  they  had  any  uniform,  regular  and  fet- 
tled ideas  on  this  fobjeft.  Sometimes  their  lan- 
guage plainly  denotes  fome  pre-exiftent  nature  of 
Chrift  to  be  truly  divine,  and  part  of.  the  very  ef- 
fence  of  God  the  Father,  even  his  w/W,  his  zvifdom^ 
&c.  others  of  their  fpeeches  feem  to  fink  it  far  be- 
low the  dignity  of  Godhead,  when  they  fpeak  of 
his  temporal  generation  and  derivation  from  God 
as  the  author  and  caufe  of  his  being,  from  which 
the  Arian  writers  have  taken  occafion  to  fuppole 
they  were  engaged  on  their  fide.  Now,  as  this  doc- 
trine of  the  pre-exiftent  foul  of  Chrift  united  to  true 
Godhead,  happily  reconciles  many  difficult  places 
of  fcripture,  fo  perhaps  if  it  were  wifely  applied  up- 
on a  diligent  review  of  the  writings  of  fome  of  the 
fathers,  this  fame  dodrine  might  reconcile  fome  of 
their  ftrange  expreflions  which  feem  contradictory 
and  inconfiftent  :  at  leaft  I  am  fure  it  would  have 
fecured  them  from  fome  of  the  abfurdities  which 
they  feem  to  have  fallen  into. 

It  is  worthy  of  our  notice,  that  many  if  not  moft 
of  the  ancient  Antenicene  fathers,  when  they  fpake 
of  the  generation  of  the  Son,  underftand  by  it  a  vol- 
untary generation  or  manifeftation  fome  time  before 
the  world  began,  in  order  to  create  that  world  : 
though  they  fuppofe  the  divine  Lo^os,  or  iVord,  to 
exift  in  God,  or  in  and  with  the   Father  from  all 

eternity. 


a 6 2,  The  early  ExiJIence  Disc.  III. 

eternity.     That  great  and  zealous  defender  of  the 
Athanafian   taith,    the   learned   Dr.  Waterland,   al- 
lows rhis  )!i  iu'.>  citation  from  feveral  of  thole  lathers  ; 
lee  2d  Defence  of  1  he  Queries,  fee  p.  104,  107,  283 — r 
292,  and  his  3d.  Defence,  p.  25.     Particularly  Igna- 
tius had  this  idea  of  the  generation  of  the  Son.     Juf- 
tin  Martyr  i'pcaks  of  no  generation  higher  than  that 
voluntary  antemundane  generation,  otherwife  called 
maniicttation.     The  Logos  became  a  Son  according 
to  lutlin,  by  voluntary  appointment  ;    it  is  the  pro- 
ceflion  makes  him  a  Son,  and  that  was  voluntary. 
The  Son  proceeded  lij2,ht  of  light  in  time  according 
to  juiiin,  and  according  to  many  more  befide  him, 
particularly  Hippolytus,  and  perhaps  even  the  Ni- 
cene  fathers.    Tatian,  who  was  Juftin's  fcholar, fpeaks 
only  of  a  temporal  generation  or  proceiTion.     And 
Athenagoras  and  Theophilus  fpeak  of  no  higher  gen- 
eration than  this.     Clemens,  of  Alexandria,  and  Ter- 
tuUian,  may  be   both  allowed  to  go  upon  the  fame 
hypothells  ;  and  Hippolytus  was  undoubtedly  of  the 
fame  mind  ;  for  he  fays,  *'  The  Father  begat  the 
Son  when  he  willed  and  as  he  willed,"  that  is,  fent 
or  flievs^ed  him  to  the  world.     Tertullian   fuppofes 
the  Sonfhip  properly  to  commence  with  his  procef- 
fion,  fo  that  the  Logos  became  a  Son  in   time,  and 
was  not  yet  a  Son  till  he  came  out  to  create. 

We  might  afiC  here  now,  whether  all  thefeexpref- 
fions  may  not  be  reconciled,  if  we  fuppofe  the  Deity 
of  the  lecond  perion  of  the  Trinity  (as  fome  perfons  J^ 
have  done)  to  be  an  eternal Drjine  Principle  in  God- 
head, which  is  reprefented  in  fcri|)ture  as  a  pcrfon 
called  his  Logos,  or  Sup/iia,  his  fVorci,  or  his  IVif- 
dom  :  and  that  fome  time  before  the  creation  of  the 
wodd,  God  created,  generated,  or  caulcd  to  exift,  the 
human  foul  ot  jefus  Chrirt,  in  an  immediate  union 
with  th\i, lVord,c[  Divine Pr J fk7ple,2iiK\  gave  the  v.hole 
Compk'xum  the  lame  name,  viz.  the  Logos,  or  Word, 

an4 


Sect.  VI.         of  Chriji's  Human  Sou!.  2^3 

and  ordained  this  glorious  being,  viz.  his  own  divine 
Word,  or  Lo^os,  united  to  the  human  fpirit,  to  ope- 
rate in  creating  and  adorning  the  world,  the  human 
fpirit  having  a  lubferviency  herein  to  the  Divine 
Principle,  lb  far  as  it  w^as  pofnble  for  any  thing  be- 
neath God  to  be  employed  in  an  inferior  or  minifte- 
rial  manner  in  fuch  fublime  and  divine  work.  Does 
not  this  give  a  fair,  a  natural  and  eafy  explication  of 
thefe  glorious  expreffions  of  fcripture  concerning 
our  Lord  Jefus  Chrift,  that  '  by  him  God  made  the 
worlds,  and  created  all  things  by  him,  and  without 
him  was  nothing  made  that  was  made  ?'  For  the 
name,  Jefus  Chrift,  feems  to  imply  fomething  more 
than  the  mere  Divine  Power  or  Principle  called  the 
IVord. 

But  I  retreat,  and  mention  no  more  of  any  attempt 
to  give  a  particular  idea  of  the  divine  nature  of 
Chrift,  iince  this  dodtrine  of  his  human  foul's  early 
exiftence  is  confiftent  with  any  known  fcheme  of  ex- 
plaining his  true  and  real  Deity. 

Origen  feems  to  be  a  believer  of  the  pre-exiftcnt 
foul  of  Chrift,  when  he  fays,  *'  Perhaps  the  foul  of 
the  Son  in  its  perfection  was  in  God  and  his  fulnefs, 
and  coming  out  thence  when  he  was  lent  by  the  Fa- 
ther, took  a  body  of  Mary  ;"  and  again,  upon  thefe 
words  of  John  the  Baptift, '  After  me  cometh  a  man 
which  is  preferred  before  me,  for  he  was  before  me,' 
John  i.  30.  he  fays  thus,  *'  that  it  is  fpoken  of 
Chrift,  that  we  may  learn  that  the  man  [or  man- 
hood] alfo  of  the  Son  of  God,  mixed  with  his  Divin- 
ity, had  a  prior  fubfiftence  to  his  birth  of  the  vir- 
gin." Origen  alfo  feems  to  allow  this  human  foul 
to  be  the  firll  created  ;  for  fpeaking  of  the  forma- 
tion of  JVifdom  before  the  world,  he  fays,  God  cre- 
ated E^-l^xj-yjiv  Zo(p»av,  an  animated  Wijdom^  or  IVijdcm 
with  a  foul.  And  this  opinion  appeared  fo  very  rea- 
fonable,  that  we  find  fome  marks  of  it  in  the  later 

centuries. 


264  The  early  Exijlence  Disc.  HI. 

centuries.  For  the  author  of  tb.c  Meditations,  call- 
ed St.  Auftin's,  dillinguilhes  between  Eternal  Wifdom^ 
the  Son  of  God,  and  \.\\t  jirjl  created  IVifdom  :  which 
he  makes  to  be  a  rational  and  intellectual  mind. 
See  more  of  this  kind  in  the  learii«£d  Dr.  Knight's 
Primitive  Chrijiimity  vindicated,  in  anfvver  to  Mr. 
Whifton,  p.  45. 

But  after  all,  though  it  be  a  dodrine  that  has  fa 
many  happy  advantages  attending  it,  yet  it  is  not 
neceflary  in  order  to  make  a  man  a  Chriftian,  and 
therefore  many  primitive  Chriflians  might  not  be-r 
lieve  it.  It  cafts  a  beauty  indeed  upon  the  whole 
Chriftian  faith,  but  ifc  does  not  make  a  part  of  the 
effence  of  ir.  Now  there  are  many  fuch  loeautiful 
doctrines  which  might  have  a  vail  of  darknefs  or 
confufion  thrown  upon  them  very  early  in  the  Chrif- 
tian church,  efpccially  amidll:  the  reign  of  antichrift, 
and  again  after  fome  ages  may  emerge  into  light,  and 
entertain  the  Chriftians  of  fuch  a  later  age  with  the 
brightnefs  and  pleafure  of  them  :  how  was  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Millennium  long  obfcured,  i.  e.  the 
happy  ftate  of  the  church  before  the  end  of  the 
world  ?  It  was  known  and  believed  in  the  firft  cen- 
turies, but  after  the  third  It  was  counted  a  fort  of 
herefy  for  feveral  ages ;  and  yet  now  it  has  arifen 
into  lurthcr  evidence,  and  has  obtained  almoft  uni- 
verfal  atient  i  fo  this  dodrine  of  Chrift's  pre-exift- 
ent  foul,  though  it  might  have  lain  dormant  feveral 
ages,  yet  lince  that  excellent  man.  Dr.  Henry  More, 
has  publifhed  it,  near  threefcore  years  ago,  in  his 
Great  A!y fiery  of  GodUneJs,  it  has  been  embraced, 
as  blQiop  Fowler  alferts,  *'  by  many  of  our  greateil: 
divines,  as  valuable  men  as  our  church  can  boaft 
o^ ;  though  mofh  of  them  liave  been  too  fparing 
in  owning  it,  for  fear,  I  lup|5ofe,  of  having  their  or- 
thodoxy called  in  queftion." 

The 


Sect.  VI.         ef  Chrlfs  Human  Sou/.  265 

The  moft  modern  authors  and  writings  which 
have  profcffed  rhis  dodrine  pubHckly,  are  thefe  that 
follow.* 

1.  Dr.  Henry  More,  of  the  myftery  of  godhnefs. 

2.  Dr.  Edward  Fowler,  bifhop  of  Gloucefler,  in 
his  difcourfe  of  the  defcent  of  the  Man  Chrift  Jefus 
from  heaven,  and  his  reflexions  on  the  examiner  of 
this  difcourfe. 

3.  A  defence  of  the  bifhop's  difcourfe,  by  a  pref- 
byter  of  the  church  of  England. 

4.  A  fecond  defence,  by  the  publilher  of  the 
firft. 

5.  Mr,  Robert  Fleming,  in  his  firfl  and  third  vol- 
umes of  Chriftology. 

6.  A  very  great  man  cited  (but  namelefs)  by  biQi- 
op  Fowler,  in  hisrefiedions,  &C.  p.  iii. 

7.  Mr.  Jofeph  HuiTey,  in  his  treatife  of  the  Glo- 
ry-Man. 

8.  Dr.  Francis  Gaftrell,  bilhop  of  Chefter,  in  his 
remarks  on  Dr.  Clarke's  fcripture  do£trine  of  the 
Trinity,  p.  47. 

9.  Mr.  Nelfon's  learned  friend,  in  anfwer  to  Dr. 
Clarke,  p.  6^,  103. 

10.  Dr.  Thomas  Ben  net,  in  his  difcourfe  of  the 
Trinity  in  unity. 

1 1.  The  learned  Dr.  Thomas  Burnet,  of  the  Char-- 
ter-houfe,  in  his  book  De  Statu  Mortuorum  ifj  Hefur- 
gentium,  publifhed  after  his  death. 

12.  The  doftrine  of  the  Trinity  intelligibly  ex- 
plained by  Dr.  Thomas  Burnet,  reftor  of  Weftking- 
ton  in  WiltOiire. 

13.  Dr.  Knight's  Primitive  Chriftianity  vindicat- 
ed, in  anfwer  to  Mr.  Whifton's  bold  affertions. 

In   three  of  thefe  books  I  confefs  this  opinion   is 
but  juft  mentioned,  as  the  certain  and  probable  opin- 
ion 

*  Note,  This  was  written  at  leaft  twenty  or  thirty  years  ago, 
pi.my  more  perfons  may  be  now  found  who  have  acknowledged  it. 


266  The  early  Exijience  Disc.  III. 

ion  of  the  author ;  but  in  the  reft  it  is  ftrenuoufly 
aiTcrted  and  maintained,  and  in  fome  of  them  with 
great  degrees  of  aiiurance  :  and  I  think  every  one  of 
them  do  proftfs  and  maintain  the  real  and  proper 
Deity  of  Chrift  in  that  or  other  parts  of  their  works, 
fo  that  there  is  no  Arian  among  them  all. 

After  authors  of  fuch  learning  and  reputation  in 
the  world,  as  fome  of  thefe  which  are  named,  I  have 
ventured  to  propofe  this  do(^lrine  once  more  to  the 
publir.  It  is  attended  with  a  variety  of  arguments 
drawn  from  the  holy  fcripture  for  the  fupport  of  it, 
and  I  have  dated  much  ftronger  objections  than  I 
have  ever  met  with  in  oppofition  to  it  from  any 
Englifn  or  foreign  writers,  and  I  do  not  find  them 
impoifibic  to  be  anfvvered. 

I  dare  not  afTume  that  air  of  aflurance  which 
bifhop  Fowler  has  done  in  ieveral  parts  of  his  writ- 
ings on  this  fubjedt,  when  he  tells  us,  "  that  there 
is  no  Chriilian  dodrine  more  clearly  delivered  than 
this,  and  even  immediately  by  our  Saviour  himfelf, 
and  often  repeated  by  him  :  and  let  the  oppofers  of 
it  be  as  magifterially  poiitive  as  they  will,  yet  there 
is  not  more  plain  and  undeniable  evidence  for  any 
one  article  of  faith  than  there  is  for  this  doctrine  ; 
and  that  this  is  the  fenfe  in  which  moft  certainly 
the  diiciples  of  our  Lord  underftood  his  declara- 
tions." See  ills  ReJieBions  on  his  Oppofer,  p.  3.  and 
23.  Yet  I  think  I  can  join  him  when  he  aflerts, 
that  ''  our  Saviour  never  laid  a  fyllable  which  fo 
much  a?  feenis  to  contradidl  the  plain  literal  natural 
fenfe  of  the  words  by  which  he  chofe  to  exprefs  this 
doflirine  i  and  that  it  is  worthy  of  our  obfervation, 
that  there  is  no  one  text  in  the  Bible,  (that  the  bifh- 
op knov.'s  of)  vvhofe  plain  and  natural  fenfe  fo  much 
as  fecms  to  thwart  the  plain  fenfe  of  thofe  fcriptures 
that  he  has  produced  to  lupport  it  j"  and  he  adds, 

"  What 


Sect.  VI.  of  ChriJTs  Human  Soul.  2.6 y 

*'  What  controverted  point  is  there  in  religion  of 
which  we  can  fay  the  Hke  ?" 

1  eafily  permade  myfelf  that  mod  Chrliiians  v/\\[ 
agree  with  me  thus  far,  that  if  this  dodrine  be  true, 
it  gives  a  natural  and  eafy  folution  of  a  great  number 
,of  difficulties  in  the  word  of  God,  it  adds  beauty  as 
well  as  clearnefs  to  many  expreffions  in  the  New 
and  Old  Teftament,  and  it  enables  us  to  anfwer  ma- 
ny inconveniences  and  appearing  abfurdities  which 
the  Arians  fling  upon  the  common  explications  of 
the  Trinity.  But  if  there  be  any  fufficient  argu- 
ment to  refute  this  dodlrine  and  to  prove  it  falfe,  I 
am  not  fo  fond  of  it  as  to  perfift  obftinately  in  the  de* 
fence,  nor  make  all  things  truckle  and  yield  to  this 
fuppofition. 

The  great  doflrine  of  the  Deity  of  Chrift,  and  his 
facred  office  of  Mediator,  may  perhaps  be  maintain- 
ed without  it,  but  then  we  muft  return  again  to  ex- 
plain fome  of  thefe  difficult  texts"  of  fcripture  by 
hard  tropes  and  figures  ;  we  muft  fpeak  of  Chrift 
as  God-Man  before  his  taking  our  nature  upon  him 
by  way  of  prolepjis  or  anticipation.  We  muft  ap* 
ply  many  inferior  expreffions  of  fcripture  to  the 
divine  perfon  of  Chrift,  confidered  in  his  office  as 
Mediator,  which  might  otherwife  and  much  better 
be  applied  to  his  human  foul ;  we  muft  conftrue 
fome  phrafes  into  truth  economically  which  can  nev- 
er be  true  in  their  real  and  natural  fenfe.  We  muft 
indulge  fome  catachrefes  or  improprieties  of  language 
in  the  Bible,  which  might  be  literally  and  properly 
(expounded  by  the  fcheme  now  propofed  :  we  muft 
folve  other  expreffions  by  the  do6lrine  of  communi- 
ication  of  properties  between  the  divine  and  human 
natures  of  Chrift,  in  the  fame  manner  as  we  did 
before  ;  fome  of  vv^hich  folutions,  I  confefs,  are  cer- 
tainly neceffary,  and  always  will  be  fo,  to  explain 
fome  fcriptures  that  relate  to   the   perfon  of  our 

Lord 


268  The  early  Exigence,  &c.         Disc.  III. 

Lord  Jefus  Chrlft,  according  to  the  well-known 
methods  of  fpcech  in  all  nations  and  ages.  But  we 
would  never  choofe  thefe  interpretations,  where 
there  is  a  more  plain  Hteral  fenfe  which  is  perfectly 
accommodated  to  the  text. 

As  this  dodVrine,  fo  far  as  we  have  gone  in  ex- 
plaining it,  has  given  abundant  light  to  many 
fcriptures,  there  are  alfo  other  texts,  which,  if  we 
drop  this  docftrine,  we  muft  leave  under  a  heavy 
cloud  fi.ill,  amon^  the  aAul«  and  «?u(rvo»!la,  the  un- 
folvables  and  the  things  hard  to  be  underftood  ; 
and  we  muft  ftill  be  daily  waiting  upon  the  Father 
of  lights,  till  he  (hall  give  us  further  difcoveries  of 
his  own  meaning  in  thofe  palTages  of  his  holy 
word,  which  I  think  are  made  fufficiently  plain  in 
and  by  this  fcheme  :  we  muft  wait  till  providence 
and  grace  (liall  join  to  furnilh  us  with  a  better  clue 
than  this  to  lead  us  into  the  myfterious  glories  of 
the  pcrfon  of  oiir  bleffed  Redeemer,  the  more  com- 
plete knowledge  whereof  is  referved  to  entertain 
faints  and  angels  in  the  future  ages  of  blelTednefs. 
There,  it  is  certain,  if  we  lliall  be  fo  happy  as  to  ac- 
cept of  his  gofpel,  we  ihall  '  fee  him  as  he  is,'  and 
behold  hinl  '  face  to  face  ;'  then  '  (hadows  Iliall  flee 
away,'  and  darknefs  vanilh  forever,  for  '  in  his  light 
we  (hall  fee  light.'    ALiien. 


APPENDIX  : 


^i  A^  t^:  t^l^j  A^vJ-tAj  :fc^.>..t/t%xt^tai^^VKj4AjL<^  iJ^  '^^^j' 


APPENDIX: 

O  R, 

y^  //or/  ABPvIDGMENT  p/  f/iat  excellent  Difcourfe 
of  the  late  Rev.  Dr.  Thomas  Goodwin,  on  ths 
Glories  and  Roxalties  that  belong  to  Jefus  ChriJI  con- 
fidered  as  God-Man^  in  his  Third  Book  of  his  Knowl- 
edge of  God  the  Father  and  his  Son  Jefus  Chrift. 
Page  ^c^t  in  the  Second  Volume  of  his  IVorks. 

jHaVING  found  occafion,  in  feveral  parts  of  the 
foregoing  difcourfe,  to  cite  fome  paflages  out  of  this 
learned  and  pious  writer,  (who  foars  far  higher  than 
I  dare  to  do,  in  defcribing  the  glories  due  to  the  hu- 
man nature  of  Chrift  Jefus)  I  thought  it  might  be 
very  entertaining  to  many  of  my  readers,  as  well 
as  ferviceable  to  the  dodrine  here  propofed,  to  draw 
out  an  abridgment  of  that  difcourfe  which  he  wrote 
concerning  the  glories  of  Chrift  as  God-Man,  {o  far 
as  it  relates  to  this  doctrine. 

Hereby  the  pious  reader  will  eafily  perceive,  that 
the  manner  in  which  1  have  expounded  many  fcrip- 
tures,  is  nobly  patronized  and  fupported  by  this 
great  author,  whofe  name  and  memory  are  honour- 
ed among  evangelical  writers,  and  continue  in  high 
efteem  among  many  private  Chriftians  of  the  prefent 
age  ;  and  whofe  fpecial  charafler  it  is  to  have  fearch- 
ed  deep  into  the  hidden  trcafures  of  the  word  of 
God,  and  drawn  out  thence  many  peculiar  glories 
which  belong  to  the  perfon  and  offices  of  our  bledcd 
Saviour. 

Though 


270  Abridgment  of  Dr.  GooDV/m, 

Though  I  call  this  an  Abridgment  of  Dr.  Gooa- 
win's  dilcourfe,  yet  it  is  neceifary  I  fliould  tell  the 
world  that  it  may  rather  be  called  a  Collection  of  his 
fentiments  in  his  ozvn  words  ;  for  I  have  never  added 
or  altered  any  words  but  where  it  was  necelTary  to" 
make  the  fc'nfe  plain,  and  to  connect  the  fentences  i 
fo  that  both  the  fentiments  and  the  language  are  all 
his  own. 

In  Chap.  I.  page  95.  he  lays  the  foundation  of  his 
difcourfe  on  Col.  i.  15 — 19,  and  tranlcribes  all  the* 
vcrfes.  '  Who  is  the  image  of  the  invifible  God, 
the  firft-born  of  every  creature  ;  for  by  him  were 
all  things  created  that  are  in  heaven,  and  that  arc  in 
earth,  vifibie  and  invihblc,  whether  they  be  thrones, 
or  dominions,  or  principalities,  or  powers  :  All  things 
were  created  by  him  and  for  him  :  And  he  is  before 
all  things,  and  by  him  all  things  confift :  And  he  is 
the  head  of  the  body,  the  church  ;  who  is  the  bt-^ 
ginning,  the  firft-born  from  the  dead  ;  that  in  all 
things  he  might  have  the  pre-eminence.  For  it 
pleafed  the  Father  that  inhim  (hould  all  fulnefs  dwell.* 
Then  he  writes  thus  ;  All  this  fulnefs,  and  the  par- 
ticulars thereof  mentioned  in  this  text,  are  attribut- 
ed to  Chrift  as  God-Man,  either  as  acftually  united 
or  to  be  united  in  one  perfon. 

To  take  off'  prejudices  (faith  he)  it  is  meet  the 
reader  ihould  know  how  that  holy  and  greateft  light 
of  the  reformed  churches,  Calvin,  interprets  the  firft 
pallage,  '  He  is  the  image  of  the  invifible  God,'  viz- 
*'  It  is  he  alone  by  whom  God,  who  is  otherwife  in- 
vifible, is  manifefted  to  us  :  I  know  how  the  an- 
cients are  wont  to  expound  this,  becaufe  they  had  a 
controverfy  with  the  Arians,  who  held  Chriit  to  be 
a  mere  creature ;  they  urge  this  place  for  Chritt's 
being  of  the  lame  effence  or  nature  with  the  Father ; 
but  \\\  the  mean  time  they  omitted  what  v^'as  the 
chici  thing  in  the  words,   namely,  how  the  Father 

hath 


To/.  11.    Book  III.  272 

hath  exhibited  himfelf  in  Chrifl  to  be  known  by 
us." 

Then  the  Doftor  adds,  page  loi,  that  all  and  ev- 
ery one  of  thefe  particulars  before  rehearfed  are  thole 
glories,  which  as  fo  many  feveral  pieces  do  make  up 
this  pre-eminence,  and  are  parts  of  that  fulnefs  which 
is  faid  to  dwell  in  him  :  and  the  apoftle  makes  all 
this  fulnefs  to  refide  in  Chrift  by  an  ad  of  God's 
good  pleafure.  Hence  I  infer  of  all  thefe  parts  and 
pieces,  that  they  muft  be  underftood  of  him  as  God- 
Man  ;  for  had  they  been  fpoken  of  him  fingly  as 
God,  they  are  natural  to  Chrift,  and  not  at  all  fub- 
jeded  to  God's  good  will.  Page  102.  But  take  all 
thefe  as  fpoken  of  Chrift  as  ordained  to  be  God-Man, 
all  this  might  indeed  be  the  object  of  God's  decree, 
and  the  aft  of  his  good  pleafure,  and  it  was  the  high- 
eft  aft  of  grace  and  God's  good  pleafure  to  ordain 
that  Man  to  fuch  an  union. 

Chap.  II.  page  103,  104.  Chrift  *  is  the  image 
of  the  invifible  God  ;'  which  words  are  refolved  into 
this  alfertion,  that  in  that  Man,  Jefus  Chrift,  by  vir- 
tue of  his  union  with  the  Godhead,  there  is  inherent 
a  fulnefs  of  all  divine  perfeftions,  which  may  n:ake 
Tjp  an  image  of  the  attributes  of  the  Godhead,  in  fo 
^tranfcendent  a  way  of  excellency  and  eminency,  as 
is  incompatible  and  incommunicable  to  any  mere 
creature  remaining  fuch. 

The  Godhead  of  Chrift  is  as  invifible  as  the  God- 
head of  the  Father  ;  but  Chrift  is  fuch  an  image  as 
makes  the  Godhead  manifeft  and  vifible.  In  Chrift, 
as  man  united  to  the  fecond  perfon,  there  is  a  re- 
fultance,  an  edition  of  the  Godhead  in  all  the  per- 
feftions of  it.  He  is  the  '  exprefs  image'  or  '  engra- 
ven image.'  Heb.  i.  3,  The  '  fhine,'  '  the  brightnefs 
of  his  Father's  glory  ;'  as  the  beams  of  the  fun  are 
to  the  body  of  the  fun,  fo  is  Chrift  God's  image; 
and  this  fimilitude  the  apoftle  there  ufeth  and  applies 

it 


272.  Ahrtdgment  of  Dr.  GooDWiir, 

it  to  him  as  he  was  man,  namely,  as  he  was  *  ap-« 
pointed  heir  of  all  j'  which  phrafe,  as  he  is  merely 
the  fecond  i^ierfon,  might  be  ufed  of  him  :  Thus 
Beza,  Cameron  and  others  have  underftood  it. 

This  image  is  fuch  a  fyftem  or  fulnefs  of  per- 
fedions  really  inherent  and  appertaining  unto  the 
manhood,  by  virtue  of  that  its  union  with  the 
divine  nature,  as  although  infinitely  coming  (hort 
of  the  attributes  that  arc  eflential  to  the  Godhead, 
yet  is  the  completed  image  of  them,  and  fuch  as 
no  mere  creature  is  capable  of.  This  in  general  may 
be  made  out  of  that  parenthefis  in  John  i.  14.  '  And 
we  beheld  his  glory,  the  glory  as  of  the  only  begot- 
ten Son  of  God,' 

Page  105.  To  give  two  or  three  inftances  of  fome 
of  thefe  perfetflions  peculiarly  and  incommunicably 
dwelling  in  the  human  nature  ot  Chrill ;  as  wildom, 
power,  independency,  and  Ibvereignty. 

I.  There  is  a  wifdom  in  Chrifl's  human  nature 
which  is  io  high  an  imitation  of  the  attribute  of 
wifdom  in  God,  as  no  creature,  nor  all  creatures 
could  reach  to,  nor  have  attained  ;  and  therefore 
they,  though  I  hey  be  called  '  wife,'  yet  not  '  wifdom,* 
as  Chnfl  God-Man  is  called,  i  Cor.  i.  24.  And 
the  reafon  why  fo  tranfcendent  a  wifdom  is  in  him  a|. 
man,  is  given  Col.  ii.  3.  *  In  Chrid  are  hid  all  the 
treafurcs  of  wifdom  and  knowledge  :'  not  objedively 
only,  but  fubjc6lively  alfo,  as  wliofc  knowledge  in 
himfelf  inherent  contains  in  it  'all  treafures  ot  wif- 
dom.' Now  the  reafon  of  all  this  fulnefs  of  wifdom 
in  Chrifl  is  there  given,  ver.  9.  that  *  in  him  dwell* 
thefulneis  of  the  Godhead  bodily.' 

Chrift  is  not  omnifcient  as  God  is,  but  it  is  a 
"  f.militudinary  omnilcience,"  as  Zanchy  calls  it,  an 
image  of  God's  omnifciency.  God's  knowledge 
extends  itfelf  not  only  to  all  that  is  made  or  to  be 
done,  but  to  all  that  he  can  make  or  do  j  which  is 

an 


Vol.  II.    Bovk  III.  273 

an  infinity.  Chrift's  human  nature,  now  glorified, 
knows  all  that  God  hath  done  or  meant  to  do.  It 
had,  by  virtue  of  its  union  with  the  divine  nature, 
a  right  to  know  both  things  paft,  prefent  and  to 
come  ;  and  To  it  is  in  a  fenfe  a  kind  of  omnifciency, 
incommunicable  to  any  other. 

2.  The  fame  holds  in  his  power.  It  is  not  equal 
with  God's :  Yet  there  is  a  fimilitudinary  omnipo- 
tency  in  Chrift's  human  nature,  both  in  that  he  can 
do  whatfoever  he  will,  (his  will  agreeing  with  God's 
in  every  thing)  and  in  that  all  that  God  will  ever 
pitch  upon  to  be  done,  he  is  an  inftrument  of. 
Matt.  xxviii.iS.  All  the  bufmeffes  of  the  world  run 
through  his  hands  and  his  head  :  and  therefore  he  is 
called  *  the  power  of  God.'  i  Cor.  i.  24  y  and  the 
*  arm  of  the  Lord.*  Ifai.  liii.  r. 

John  V.  1 9, 20.  '  The  Son  can  do  nothing  of  him- 
felf,  but  what  he  feeth  the  Father  do  ;  and  whatever* 
the  Father  doth,  the  Son  doth  likewife.  For  the 
Father  loves  the  Son,  and  fheweth  him  all  things 
that  himfelf  doth.'  Here  we  have,  i.  That  what- 
ever God  doth,  or  means  to  do,  the  Son  hath  a  hand 
in  it.  2.  That  the  Son  knows  all  that  is  done  by 
the  Father.  Here  is  both  the  omnifciency  we  fpeak 
of,  and  the  omnipotency,  in  the  terms  we  ftated  it, 
as  refpeding  all  God's  works,  ad  extra^  even  all  that 
ever  was  done.  And  this,  3.  in  an  incommunicable 
way  to  any  mere  creature  ;  for  this  is  given  him  that 
he  '  might  be  honoured  even  as  the  Father  is  hon- 
oured ;'  ver.  23.  And  this,  4.  in  a  fimilitudinary 
way,  o/AOiwr,  likewife^  or  in  like  manner  :  And,  5.  all 
this  Chriil  fpeaks  of  himfelf  as  the  Son  of  Man  ; 
and  it  is  one  of  the  greateft  keys  to  John's  gofpel, 
that  multitudes  of  fuch  fpeeches  are  fpoken  of  him, 
both  as  God,  and  a  God-Man.  But  to  put  it  out 
of  all  doubt,  he  fpeaks  of  himfelf  in  this  difcourfe  as 
he  is  the  Son  of  Man  united  to  God,  he  himfelf  in 
S  the 


a 74  Abridgment  of  Jbr.  GoodwiiT, 

the  clofe  of  all  exprefsly  explains  it  fo.  Ver.  27. 
*  The  Father  has  given  the  Son  authority  to  execute 
judgment,  becaufe  he  is  the  Son  of  Man.* 

3.  Another  attribute  in  Chrift,  which  isTuch  an 
image  of  what  is  in  God  as  is  incommunicable  to 
any  mere  creatures,  is  independency  and  fovereignty. 
This  is  One  of  the  chiefeft  flowers  in  that  crown  of 
his  glory,  Gt)d  might  annihilate  creatures  at  pleaf- 
ure,  and  yet  in  fo  doing  rob  them  of  nothing,  which 
they  can  lay  a  juft  claim  to  as  their  own  :  but  it  is 
not  thus  with  Chrift's  human  nature,  now  it  is  af- 
fumed  into  union  with  the  fecond  perfon  ;  for  it  is 
invefted  with  the  royal  prerogatives  of  the  perfons 
with  whom  it  is  one  ;  it  hath  an  independency  like 
unto  God's  ;  fach  as  is  communicable  to  no  crea- 
ture ;  therefore,  fays  Chrift,  ver.  26.  'As  the  Father 
hath  life  m  hin^felf,  lb  he  hath  given  the  Son  to  have 
life  in  hiniielf.'  It  is  faid  to  be  'given  him,'  but 
by  this  union  he  is  invefted  with  this  indifpofable 
prerogative  to  have  *  life  in  himfelf,'  and  not  to  hold 
it  by  gift,  though  at  firft  it  were  obtained  fo.  In- 
deed it  was  a  free  aft  of  grace  in  God  at  firft,  but  in 
doing  of  it  God  did  a  vsfonder  in  the  world,  of  all,  the 
greateft  :  for  he  fets  up  an  independent  creature,  a 
creature  backed  with  fuch  a  right  to  his  being,  that 
now  hiiiifelf  cannot  pull  him  down,  nor  diflblve  that 
union  agjain.  And  what  a  jilorious  i.ma2:e  of  God's 
independency  is  this  ? 

I  might  fhow  the  like  alfo  in  holincfs  and  all  other 
attributes  j  and  vt  is  a  noble  fubjeft  to  fpend  pains 
upon,  to  fet  forth  and  cut  out  every  limb  of  this  vaft 
image  of  all  God's  attributes  that  are  in  Chrift  mere- 
ly upon  his  perfonal  union.  I  have  limb'd  out  only 
theie  two  or  three  parts  of  it,  that  by  the  like  pro- 
portion we  might  int^r  the  vaftnefs  of  all  the  reft. 

Chap.  III.  page  109.  '  Chrift  is  the  firft-born  of 
every  creature.'     This  is  not  Ipokcn  of  him  fimply 

as 


FoL  II.    Book  III.  275 

as  fecohd  perfon  only,  fo  as  that  his  eternal  genera- 
tion as  Son  of  God  (hould  be  only  intended  ;  yet  it 
does  eftablifh  his  Godhead  ;  for  tliefe  thinp^s  could 
not  have  been  faid  of  him  had  he  not  been  God. 
The  *  firft-born'  or  *  firft-begotten  of  every  creature* 
is  fpoken  of  him  as  he  is  admitted  into  the  catalogue 
or  Ibciety  of  the  creatures,  or  as  he  is  become  one 
of  them.  Or  take  him  as  he  is  the  Son  of  God  or- 
dained to  human  nature,  and  then  to  have  his  name 
ftand  higheft  among  the  reft  of  the  creatures.  It  is 
fpoken  of  him  in  refpect  of  a  dignity  and  birthright 
that  this  God-Man  hath  at  that  inftant  he  is  admit- 
ted amongft  the  creatures.  Pfal.  Ixxxix.  27.^1  will 
make  him  m.y  firft-born,  higher  than  the  kings  of  the 
earth.'  Prov.  viii.  23.  *  I  was  fet  up  from  everlaft- 
ing.*  The  phrafe,  *  1  was  fet  up,'  will  lefs  permit  us 
to  underftand  it  of  his  eternal  generation,  for  that 
was  an  a<5t  of  God's  will. 

Page  113.  *  For  whom  all  things  were  created.* 
Col.  i.  16.  Chrift  as  God-Man  is  fet  up  as  an  uni- 
verfal  end  of  the  whole  creation  of  God.  His  per- 
fon, decreed  to  fubfift  in  man's  nature,  was  confider- 
cd  by  God  to  be  of  that  worth  and  diftance  above 
the  creatures,  that  their  very  being  and  exifting  was 
to  become  abfolutely  and  (imply  his  propriety,  of 
which  prerogative  no  mere  creature  is  capable- 
Page  1 1 4.  Suppofe  God  would  decree  him  to  be 
God-Man,  and  to  fubfifl  in  an  human  nature,  and 
likevvife  withal  would  ordain  multitudes  of  other 
things,  viz.  angels  and  men,  &c.  then  it  becomes  the 
necelTary  due  of  this  Chrift,  and  that  as- God-Man, 
to  be  fet  up  by  God  in  his  decrees  as  the  end  of  all 
thofe  things.  This  did  become  that  man's  due  and 
the  neceffary  confequent  of  that  union  with  God's 
Son  ;  and  accordingly  that  God  fliould  caft  his  de- 
crees for  Chrift's  glory  as  well  as  for  his  own.  Hence 
we  read,  Heb.  i.  2.  *  He  is  appointed  the  heir  of 
»11  things.'  And 

Sz 


276  Abridgment  of  Dr.  Goodwin, 

And  if  it  be  affirmed,  that  then  Chrift  needed  no^ 
to  have  merited  any  glory  to  himfelf,  this  furely  is  a 
truth,  though  it  may  not  be  made  ufe  of  to  exclude 
another  title  unto  this  his  own  glory,  namely,  thafe 
of  purchafe  ;  for  it  is  no  difhonour  to  him  to  have 
two  claims.  Page  116.  It  is  certain  that  all  God's 
works,  ad  extra,  whereof  the  union  of  the  divine  and 
human  nature  of  Chrift  is  one,  are  the  objeds  of 
God's  decrees.  Col.  i.  19.  *  It  pleafed  the  Father 
that  all  fulnefs  (hould  dwell  in  him.*  And  again,. 
Pfal.  ii.  6,  7.  I  will  publiih  the  decree,  I  have  fet 
my  King  on  my  holy  hill  Zion  ;'  and  upon  this 
decree  his  kingdom  over  all  is  his  due  and  inherit- 
ance. 

Chap.  IV.  page  120.  This  human  nature  is- 
made  Gud's  '  Fellow,'  as  Zechariah  calls  him.  Zech. 
xiii.  7.  '  The  Man,'  God's  '  Fellow,'  is  advanced  to 
a  fellowfliip  in  this  fociety  of  the  Trinity,  and  there- 
fore to  him  God  communicates  proportionably  with- 
out meafure,  as  John  iii.  Page  121.  By  means  of 
taking  up  one  realonable  creature,  a  man,  into  this 
higheft  union,  he  communicates  the  riches  of  his. 
knowledge  and  wifdom,  to  the  utmoft  that  they  are 
communicable  to  that  creature  fo  united  ;  for  it  is 
his  due  to  know  more  at  the  (irft  inftant  of  that  his 
union  than  all  the  angels  :  for  by  virtue  of  that  union 
he  is  prefently  in  his  Father's  bofom.  John  i.  18. 
*  The  only  begotten  Son  which  is  in  the  bofom  of 
the  Father,  he  hath  declared  him.'  God  can  hide 
nothing  from  him  which  he  means  to  do  ;  he  draws 
nearer  to  God  infinitely  than  Mofes  did,  or  angels 
ever  did  or  (hall. 

Chap.  V.  Vv^herein  the  Dodor  (hows,,  that  the 
glory  which  Chrill,  as  God-]\lan,  had  afiigned  him 
before  the  world  was  in  his  election  by  the  Father 
fignified  in  John  xvii.  5.  '  Glorify  me  now  with  the 
glor}'  which  I  had  with  thee  before  the  world  was.*^ 

Page 


FoL  II.    Book  III.  277 

"Page  124.  It  is  not  the  glory  of  the  fecond  perfon 
•iimply  or  alone  confidered,  for  this  was  not  a  thing 
•to  be  prayed  for,  it  is  naturally  and  effentially  his 
due ;  and  he  had  it  as  much  now  at  the  time  when 
he  prayed  as  he  had  from  everiafting  :  the  word, 
■*  Now  glorify  me,'  neceilarily  implies  a  fufpenfion 
of  a  glory  due  before ;  and  it  argues  a  glory  to  be 
given  in  time  ;  for  both  which  reafons  it  concerns 
the  human  nature,  not  the  divine.  The  fabjcct  of 
-the  glory  prayed  for  is  the  Man.  Auftin  was  con- 
vinced of  this,  though  he  was  engaged  againft  the 
Arians  as  much  as  any  in  his  time.  It  is  the  Man, 
or  rather  the  Perfon  of  God-Man  in  union  together, 
is  rather  the  fubjecl  prayed  for  :  it  is  the  petition  of 
the  Perfon  who  had  been  humbled,  who  had  glori- 
fied God  on  earth,  and  had  finiihed  his  work  and 
waited  for  this  glory  until  now  ;  and  it  is  a  glory 
fufpended  ti'll  this  work  was  done.  This  will  never 
be  unriddled,  fays  the  Do£tor,  page  126,  fo  fairly  any 
other  way,  as  by  predeftination,  that  is,  the  glory  he 
was  ordained  to,  as  God-Man  ;  for  he  had,  before 
the  world  was,  the  title  of  God-Man  eled^  although 
not  of  God- Man  unitedy  or  made  fiejli.  He  bore  the 
title  and  repute  of  it,  and  went  under  that  name 
with  God  the  Father.  Ver.  24.  is  explained  to  the 
fame  purpofe,  and  muft  be  interpreted  of  Chrift  as 
God-Man,  when  he  fays,  '  The  glory  which  thou 
gaveft  me,  for  thou  lovedft  me  from  the  foundation 
of  the  world.' 

Chap.  VI.  page  151.  The  author  declares  that 
Chrift,  being  the  fecond  perfon,  did  bear  and  fuftain 
the  glory  of  being  God-Man,  all  along  from  his 
predeftination  thereunto,  and  as  an  officer  eledt ;  he 
hath  the  title  and  honour  accordingly,  and  had  the 
glory  of  It  before  his  Father. 

When  he  appeared  to  the  patriarchs,  and  was  with 
the  people  of  God  in  the  wildernefs,  and  appeared 

as 


278  Abridgment  of  Dr.  Goodwin, 

as  Captain  of  the  hoft  of  Ifrael,  thefe  a£ls  were  done 
as  bearing  the  pcrfonage  of  God-Man,  and  all  along 
from  everlafting  he  afted  as  fuch  in  that  capacity  to- 
gether with  his  Father. 

Ifai.  ix.  6.  One  of  his  names  is  the  *everlafting 
Father,'  that  is,  '  a  Father  from  cverlafting,'  and 
therefore  he  mud  be  foid  to  have  borne  that  relation. 
of  a  Father  to  us  from  that  time.  In  the  Trinity, 
take  them  confidered  as  mere  perfons,  there  is  but 
one  Father;  therefore  this  title  mufl  be  given  to 
Chrift  in  God's  decrees,  upon  the  confideration  of 
his  being  God-Man  in  his  undertaking  and  acting 
accordingly.  Paul  tells  us,  Heb.  ii.  that  Chrift  is  a 
Father  confidered  as  he  is  a  man,  ver.  13.  *  Lo  I, 
and  the  children  thou  haft  given  me.'  And  Ifaiah 
tells  us  he  was  this  '  from  everlafting,'  before  he  adtu- 
ally  aftumed  the  fame  nature  :  he  muft  be  the  ever- 
lafting Father,  reprefentatively,  by  bearing  the  per- 
fonageof  God-Man,  afore  his  Father,  and  undertak- 
ing that  relation. 

Chap.  X.  page  173.  Col.  i.  16.  *  For  by  him 
were  all  things  created  than  are  in  heaven,  and  that 
are  in  earth,'  &c.  '  all  thinsfs  were  created  bv  him  and 
tor  him.'  Page  177.  His  fubferviency  to  God  in 
the  creation  is  let  forth  here  in  three  particles,  tv  uvtu 
in  hhn^  $i  xmth  by  him.,  and  u<;  oivrov  for  him, 

I .  '  In  him,'  as  the  exemplary  caufe  ;  that  is,  God 
fct  up  Chrift  as  the  pattern  of  all  perfedion  ;  for  fo 
that  human  nature  united  and  quickened  by  the 
Godhead,  muft  needs  be  even  above  the  angels 
themfelves ;  and  he  drew  in  fcattered  pieces  in  the 
reft  of  the  creation,  the  feveral  perfections  met  in 
that  human  nature  as  a  pattern.  And  in  man's 
creation  this  feerns  to  have  been  conlldcred  by  God 
in  that  fpeech,  *  Let  us  make  man  according  to  our 
image  ;'  that  is,  after  that  Man  who  was  to  be  unit- 
ed to  God,  whom  we  in  our  decrees  have  fct  up  as 

the 


FoL  ir.    Book  III.  279 

the  pattern  and  exprefs  image  of  the  invifible  God- 
head. 

2.    *  By  hitn  all  things  were  created  j'  he  having 
been  fome  way  the  inftrument  of  the  creation  as  he 
is  Chrift  God-Man  anointed,  as  well  as  he  is  adually 
of  redemption.     And  page  168.  Chrift  is  the  me- 
dium of  God's  creation.     Page  17S.  If  he  were  at 
all  to  be  made  a  creature,  it  was  his  due  perfonal 
privilege  to  have   been  himfelf  firfl  made,  and  to 
have  been  God's  inftrument  in  creation,  and  to  have 
uttered  thofe  words  which  were  fpoken  by  God, 
*  Let  there  be  light,  let  there  be  fun,   moon,*   &c. 
even  as  it  was  his  due  when  he  aflumed  our  nature, 
to  have  been  filled  with  all  that  perfonal  glory  which 
he  hath  now  in  heaven.     But  for  the  accomplilh- 
ment  of  other  ends  this  was  fufpended,  namely,  that 
he  might  firft  become  fin  and  a  curfe  for  us ;  fo  I 
fay,  it  was  his  due  to  have  exifted  in  his  human  na- 
ture firft,  and  then  as  God's  Word  and  inftrument, 
he  fliould  have  created  all  things,  as  he  wrought  mir- 
acles when  he  was  here   on  earth  ;   and  though  it 
was  fufpended  for  glorious  ends,  yet  God  gives  him 
the  glory  of  creation  virtually,  that  he  *  created  all 
things  by  him,*  and   by  virtue  of  his  incarnation. 
And  in  creating,  (to  ftiow  that  he  fliould  have  done 
it  as  his  Logos ^  or  J^Vord  to  be  made  fleth)  he  accord- 
ingly ads  his  part,  as  in  Gen.  i.  *  God  faid.  Let 
there  be  light,'  which  but  for  this  very  myftery  need- 
ed not  have  been.     Yea,  fuch  teems  to  have  been 
his  fubferviency  to  God  herein,  that  John  contents 
not  himfelf  only  to  have  faid,  that  *  all  things  were 
made  by  him  ;'    but  further  adds,   *  without  hiim 
nothing  was  made  that  was  made.' 

Chap.  XL  page  iSp.  Chrift  as  God-Man  is  the 
Creator  of  all  things,  proved  by  i  Cor.  viii.  6.  *  One 
Lord  Jefus  Chrift,  by  whom  are  all  things.'  P.  181. 
IThis  is  not  attributed  to  him  as  Man,  Cngly  con- 

fidered  ; 


2 So  Abridgment  of  Dr.  Goodwin, 

lidercd  ;  nor  is  it  a  property  of  God,  confidered 
fingly  as  God  only,  but  as  a  Man  who  was  one  per- 
(on  with  God,  or  God-Man  ;  nor  are  thefe  things 
attributed  to  him  merely  by  way  of  communicatioix 
of  properties,  whereby  what  was  proper  only  to  the 
divine  nature  is  attributed  to  the  manhood  ;  but 
thefe  all  by  way  of  influence  and  virtual  efficacy,  are 
attributed  to  him  as  God-Man,  as  truly  as  the  works 
of  redemption,  mediation,  &;c. 

Page  183.  His  being  appointed  Lord,  will  fend 
us  to  a  higher  date  than  his  actual  afcenfion  to  heav- 
en, even  to  afore  the  creation  ;  yea,  even  to  eternity. 
Heb,  i.  2.  '  God  hath  in  thefe  laft  days  fpoken  unto 
us  by  his  Son,  whom  he  hath  appointed  heir  of  all 
things,  by  vvhom  alfo  he  made  the  worlds  ;'  yea, 
and  becaufe  as  God-Man  he  was  appointed  Lord 
of  them,  therefore  it  was  alfo  that  God  commilTioned 
him  to  make  them,  confidered  as  God-Man,  to  make 
his  title  of  Lordfliip  even  as  Son  of  Man  proper  and 
diredl,  and  adequately  tull  to  him,  and  there  needs 
no  more  to  verify  this,  viz.  That  as  Gcd-Man  he 
made  the  worlds,  and  virtually  as  Man,  as  well  as 
efficiently,  both  as  God  and  Man  in  the  fenfe  it  hath 
been  explained  in. 

Chap.  XII.  page  184.  That  Chrift,  as  God-Man, 
is  the  Creator  of  all  things,  is  further  proved  from 
John  i.  r,  2,  3.  'In  the  beginning  vt'as  the  Word, 
and  the  Word  was  with  God,  and  the  Word  was 
God,  The  fame  was  in  the  beginning  with  God.  All 
things  were  made  by  him,'  &c.  This  name,  the 
'  Word  of  God,'  imports  both  his  being  the  image  of 
God  the  Father,  as  the  fecond  perfon,  and  the  im- 
age or  manifeftation  of  God  to  us  in  hum^n  nature. 
Manv  of  our  Proteftant  divines  have  altosrether  de- 
ciined  the  firft  {qu^q,  and  betaken  themfelves  to  the 
latter,  viz.  That  Chrill  is  called  the  H'ord,  in  rela- 
tion to  his  bein;^  manifefted   in  an   human  nature, 

and 


f^ol.  11.    Book  III.  281 

and  therein  to  manifeft  the  whole  of  God  unto  us. 
This  is  not  appropriated  to  him  only  as  the  Son  of 
God  and  fecond  perfon  j  biit  as  united  to  human 
nature.  Rev.  xix.  13.  'He  was  clothed  with  a 
vefture  dipt  in  blood,  and  his  name  is  called  the 
Word  of  God.'  Page  187.  That  repetition  in  the 
fecond  verfe,  viz.  John  i.  2.  *  The  fame  was  in  the 
beginning  with  God,'  imports  that  the  fecond  perfon 
did  then  fuftain,  and  take  on  him  another  relation, 
even  the  perfon  of  the  Mediator,  and  enter  upon 
the  office,  acting  the  part  and  fuftaining  the  place 
and  reputation  of  it. 

Page  189.  Compare  this  with  Prov.  viii.  and  the 
titles,  '  The  Word'  and  '  Wifdom'  are  in  effect  and 
lignificancy  the  fame  in  the  original  languages.  Sol- 
omon fpeaks  but  the  fame  things  of  him  there  that 
John  doth  here  :  '  The  Word  was  with  God  in  the 
beginning,'  that  is,  *  the  Lord  poflefTed  me  in  the 
beginning  of  his  way,  I  was  by  him,  rejoicing  before 
him  ;'  and  fo  it  may  explain  what  is  meant  by  the 
*  beginning'  here,  namely,  *  the  beginning  of  crea- 
tion,' and  therefore  is  not  meant  of  his  eternal  gen- 
eration ;  for  fo  Chrift  is  not  the  beginning  of  God's 
ways,  for  the  ways  of  God  are  his  '  goings  forth'  to- 
ward his  creatures.  That  fpeech  is  all  one  with  Col. 
i.  15.  *  The  firft-born  of  every  creature,'  being  in 
God's  decree  of  creation  the  firft,  the  corner-ftone, 
and  beginning  of  the  reft,  fo  as  it  muft  be  meant  of 
Chrift,  as  God-Man. 

Page  190.  We  find,  i  Cor.  i.  24.  that  Chrifl 
is  faid  to  be  '  the  Power  of  God,  and  the  Wifdom 
of  God  ;'  both  which  are  fpoken  of  him,  not  as  they 
are  effential  attributes  in  God's  nature  j  for  the  per- 
fon of  Chrift  (as  a  perfon)  is  diftind  from  the  attri- 
butes, which  are  common  to  all  three  ;  and  fo,  he  is 
not  ftyled  the  attribute  of  wifdom^  but  they  are  thus 
fpoken  of  Chrift  manifeftatively,  and  inftrumcntally, 

and 


a8z  Abridgment  of  Dr.  Goodwin^ 

and  executively,  and  as  he  is  from  God,  and  made 
ufe  of  by  God  toward  us,  and  in  things  that  concern 
us,  to  be  the  whole  fcene  and  manifeftation  of  God's 
wifdom,  a.nd  fui>Jrat urn  of  his  counfels  concerning  us. 
And  fo  alfo  the  executive  Power  by  whom  God  ef- 
fefts  all  he  doth.  That  obfervation  evidently  dem- 
onftrates  this,  (which  Cameron,  and  many  others, 
have  made,  by  comparing  Mofes,  Gen.  i.  and  this 
firft  of  John  together)  which  many  things  parallel 
Jcad  to  :  That  v/hereas  Mofes  in  the  creation  men- 
tions God  the  Father  and  the  Spirit,  two  of  the 
perfons,  yet  he  veils  the  Son  under  that  fo  often-re- 
peated fpeech  ufed  of  the  creation,  that,  God  faid, 

*  Let  there  be  hght ;'  God  faid,  *  Let  there  be  a 
firmament,'  which  could  not  be  without  myftery  ; 
and  what  other  myftery  could  it  be,  than  that  Chrift 
was  that  PFord  by  whom  God  created  all  things  ? 
When  therefore  Chrift  is  termed  the  fVord  of  God, 
the  meaning  is,  he  is  the  Power  of  God,  in  being 
his  inftrument  and  agent  in  all  he  doth,  or  means 
to  do. 

Page  191.  Thus  God  eledcd  us  and  beftowed  all 
things  upon  us  before  the  world  was,  even  '  in  Je- 
fus  Chrift.'  Eph.  i.  4.  as  then  bearing  this  j^erfon  of 
God-Man.  And  thus  alj  the  promifes  which  the 
written  word  of  God  contains,  were,  made  for  us 
unto  Chrift,  as  really  bearing  that  perfon ;  and 
2  Tim.  i.  9.  *  They  were  given  us  in  Chrift  before 
the  world  began,'  Notable  to  this  purpofe  is  that 
place.  Tit.  i.  2,  3.  where  the  apoftle  firft  fays,  that 

*  God  promifed  eternal  life  before  the  world  began.' 
A  promifc  is  a  word  given  forth,  and  is  more  than 
a  purpole  with  one's  klfj  for  it  is  to  another  :  there 
was  a  promife  made  to  Chrift  as  then  with  God. 
Now  iiiCrely  as  fecond  perfon,  he  is  capable  of  no 
promifes,  but  only  as  he  is  God-Man.  It  is  the  Son 
of  God  as  he  is  '  Jefus  Chrift  in  whom  all  promifes 
arc,  yea,  and  amen.'  2  Cor.  xix,  20.  Page 


Vol.  II.    Book  III.  283 

Page  192.  When  God  came  to  make  creatures, 
he  did  it  by  Jefus  Chrift,  as  fuftaining  this  perfon 
of  God-Man.  Eph.  iii.  9.  *  God  created  all  things 
by  Jefus  Chrift ;'  and  John  adds,  *  Nothing  was 
made  without  him  that  was  made  ;'  merely  to  fhew 
the  inftrumental  gcperal  dependence  God  had  of  him 
in  this  work  :  he  was  all  in  all,  as  we  fay  of  one  that 
is  a  right  hand  to  another  ;  he  does  nothing  with- 
out him  :  fuch  was  Chrift  to  God  :  not  thit  God 
had  not  power  eflential  to  have  created  without  him  ; 
for  it  is  by  that  power  that  Chrift  did  it  j  but  that 
this  power,  God's  will,  would  never  have  put  forth, 
but  for  his  afluming  to  be  God -Man. 

Chap.  Xlil.  page  197.  Chrift  God-Man  is  fub- 
fervient  to  God  in  all  the  works  of  his  providence  j 
he  upholds  and  fupports  all  things ;  he  governs  the 
world,  and  he  ftiall  judge  it. 

iji.  For  the  upholding  all  things.  That  Is  evi- 
dent in  this  text  of  Col.  i.  17.  'By  him  do  all  things 
ponfift  ;•  he  is  the  corner-ftone  that  keeps  the  build- 
ing and  all  the  parts  of  it  together.  Heb.  i.  2,  3.  it 
is  faid,  *  He  upholds  all  things  by  the  word  of  his 
power,'  and  it  is  fpoken  of  him  not  fimply  confidered 
as  a  fecond  perfon,  but  as  God-Man,  for  fo  he  is 
'  Heir  appointed.' 

idly.  Whilft  the  world  ftands,  he  governs  it,  eafeth 
God  of  that  burthen,  and  is  his  prorex  for  him : 
'  All  judgment  is  committed  to  the  Son.'  John  v. 
22.  *  For  the  Father  judgeth  no  man ;  but  hath 
committed  all  judgment  unto  the  Son  :'  and  the 
*  government  is  upon  his  (boulders. '  Ifa.  ix.  6. 

And  then  3  J/y.  When  he  hath  thus  governed  the 
world  with  a  greater  advantage  unto  God,  then 
this  Man  Chrift  Jefus  will  judge  it  alfo  at  the  laft, 
and  give  all  men  their  accounts.  Ads  xvii.  31,  *  He 
hath  appointed  a  day  in  the  which  he  will  judge  the 
world,  by  that  Man  whom  he  hath  ordained.'  God 
would  not  employ  a  mere  creature  in  this  v/ork,  it 

was 


284  Abridgment  9f  Dr.  Goodwin", 

was  too  great  an  honour  ;  and  yet  it  was  meet  it 
(hould  be  done  vifibly  and  audibly,  and  to  the  fat- 
isfadion  of  all  men's  confciences,  both  concerning 
themfelves  and  others.  God  would  have  a  perfon  in 
the  Trinity  manifeft  in  a  creature  like  unto  us  to  do 
it,  armed  with  power  and  authority,  becaufe  he  is 
God  ;  and  yet  a  Man  that  (hould  deal  with  creatures 
in  their  own  way  ;  in  a  rational  and  audible  way 
convince  them,  and  vifibly  fentence  them,  fo  as  they 
fhould  be  able  to  fee  and  hear  their  Judge  as  man, 
and  yet  fear  and  dread  him  as  being  God.  And  this 
is  an  high  and  great  fervice,  which  Chrift  as  man 
fliall  do  for  God  ;  for  a  man  in  a  vocal  manner  to  be 
able  to  clear  the  accounts  of  the  world,  which,  how 
entangled  are  they  !  and  punctually  to  give  every 
man  his  due  in  righteoufnefs  !  a  Man,  that  fhall  be 
able  to  convince  all  God's  enemies  of  all  their  hard 
fpeeches  they  have  fpoken  againft  him,  as  *  Enoch 
the  feventh  from  Adam  prophefied  ;'  able  to  give  a 
full  and  fatisfaftory  account  of  all  God's  ways  and 
proceedings,  which  men  cavil  at  j  to  juftify  God's 
decrees,  which  men  quarrel  with,  and  think  much  at ; 
and  his  children,  whom  men  defpife  and  bear  down  : 
one  able  to  bring  to  light  the  fecrets  of  all  hearts,  fo 
as  all  men  fhall  judge  of  every  man.  i  Cor.  iv.  5. 
*  Therefore  judge  nothing  before  the  time,  until  the 
Lord  come,  who  both  will  bring  to  light  the  hidden 
things  of  darknefs,  and  will  make  manifeft  the  coun- 
fels  of  the  hearts  :  and  then  fliall  every  man  have 
praife  of  God.'  One  able  to  fearch  the  deep  things 
of  God,  and  bring  forth  his  counfels,  for  the  '  books 
are  then  opened.'  Rev.  xx.  12. 

J.adly,  after  all  this,  Chriil  is  the  founder  of  that 
other  world  into  which  he  brinp:s  his  children.  That 
perfonal  fulnefs  that  is  in  God-Man  is  referved  by 
God  as  a  fubjeft  of  that  depth  and  glory  to  take  uj) 
(together  with  his  own  perfections)  the  thoughts  of 
ineu  arid  angels  forever.    Rev.  xxi.  23.'*  That  city 

had 


Fol.  II.    Fook  III.  285 

had  no  need  of  the  fun  nor  moon  to  fhine  in  it,  for 
the  glory  of  God  did  lighten  it,  and  the  Lamb  is  the 
light  thereof.'  When  thofe  two  great  volumes,  this 
of  his  word,  and  that  of  his  world,  which  now  in  this 
life  are  put  into  our  hands,  to  read  the  charaders 
of  his  glory  in  by  faith,  when  both  thefe  fliall  be 
folded  up  and  clean  laid  afide,  then  will  the  perfon 
of  Chrift,  God-Man,  be  fet  forth  to  us  to  entertain 
us  forever  with  the  fight  of  the  glory  of  God  in  the 
face  of  Chrift. 

Having  drawn  out  this  httle  Abridgment  of  this 
excellent  Treatife,  I  take  the  freedom  to  make  thefe 
few  remarks  on  it. 

1.  This  learned  and  pious  author  plainly  mani- 
fefts,  that  he  could  not  expound  feveral  fcriptures 
which  fpeak  of  Chrift  both  in  the  Old  Teftamcnt 
and  the  New,  without  taking  in  his  human  nature 
to  be  the  joint  fubjeft  of  fuch  afcriptions,  becaufe 
there  are  fo  many  things  expreffed  in  them  below  the 
dignity  of  Godhead  :  and  therefore  he  fuppofes  the 
human  nature  of  Chrift  to  exift  in  the  veiw  or  idea 
of  the  Father  from  everlafting,  and  to  have  all  thofc 
glorious  aflions  and  characters  afcribed  to  him  as 
Man  united  to  God,  or  as  God  united  to  Man. 
And  it  is  to  be  obferved,  that  he  does  this  not  in 
one  fentence  or  two,  or  in  one  page  or  two,  but  it  is 
the  chief  deilgn  of  that  whole  difcourfe  of  the  Glories 
and  Royalties  that  belong  to  Jefus  Chriji  conftdered  as 
God-Man^  which  fills  up  more  than  a  hundred  pages 
in  folio. 

2.  He  fuppofes  the  Man  Chrift  Jefus  not  only  to 
have  an  exiftence  in  the  divine  idea  through  all  the 
various  ancient  tranfadions  of  creation,  providence, 
Sec.  but  he  aflerts  that  he  ought  aftually  to  have 
cxifted  the  firft  of  all  creatures,  and  to  have  been  as 
it  were  an  under-agent  in  the  creation  of  the  world  ; 
but  that  this  adual  glory  was  fafpended  for  four 

thoufand 


286  Abridgment  of  Dr.  Goodwik, 

thoufand  year^,  merely  becaufe  he  was  to  bear  fin 
and  the  curfe  for  the  redemption  of  men. 

3.  He  rifes  much  higher  in  his  afcriptions  to  the 
Man  Jefus  Chrift,  than  I  have  dared  to  do  in  any 
part  of  my  Difcourfe,  and  invefts  him  with  much 
more  fubhme  powers  than  any  angelic  fpirit ;  and 
yet  he  fuppofes  his  foul  to  be  a  human  foul  ftill,  and 
calls  him  a  man  :  he  gives  him  moft  illuftrious  pre- 
rogative, on  the  account  of  his  virtual  union  to  his 
divine  nature,  all  which  he  alTcrts  to  be  his  early  due, 
had  he  aftually  then  exifhed. 

4.  The  aftual  pre-cxiftence  of  the  Man  Jefus,  or 
the  human  foul  of  Chrift,  and  his  actual  union  to 
his  divine  nature  can  never  withhold  ordiminifli  any 
of  thole  fublime  charafters,  thofe  illuftrious  honours 
or  prerogatives  which  this  author  faith  were  his  due, 
had  he  then  exifted,  and  which  he  fuppofes  to  be  at- 
tributed to  him  in  fcripture  by  the  figure  prolepfn, 
and  by  way  of  anticipation,  and  which  were  given 
him  by  God  the  Father,  as  fuppofing  him  then  to 
exift  in  his  idea  long  before  his  aftual  exiftence. 

(J.  The  expofition  of  all  thefe  fcriptures  will  a;p- 
pear  much  more  natural,  eafy  and  plain  by  the  doc- 
trine of  the  actual  pre-exiftence  of  the  foul  of  Chrift, 
than  by  the  mere  decree  of  his  exiftence  or  fuppofi- 
tion  of  it  only  in  the  idea  and  foreknowledge  of  God. 
In  the  proleptical  fenfe,  only  learned  men  can  find  the 
meaning  of  them.  In  this  fenfe  of  actual  exiftence, 
the  meaneft  Chriftiarr  may  read  and  underftand  what 
he  reads.  And  it  is  a  general  rule  among  divines  for 
the  interpretation  of  fcripture,  never  to  introduce 
fi(2;ures  of  fpeech,  nor  to  explain  the  word  of  God  in 
a  tigurative  fenfe,  but  where  the  plain  obvious  literal 
fenlc  has  fomething  m  it  inconfiflent  or  improper. 

6.  There  is  not  one  fcripture  in  all  the  Bible 
which  denies  the  adl:ual  exiftence  of  Chrift's  human 
foul  before  the  foundation  of  the  wodd,  but  there 
are  many  which  in  this  author's  judgment  cannot  be 

explained 


Fol.  II.    Book  III.  287 

Explained  without  the  fuppolition  of  his  virtual  ex- 
iftence  then  in  the  idea  of  God,  and  therefore  they 
are  fuppofed  to  be  fpoken  of  him  as  though  he  did 
actually  exift  by  the  help  of  tropes  and  figures. 

Now  I  leave  it  to  the  judgment  of  any  candid 
reader,  whether  thofe  fcriptures,  which  are  written 
for  the  ufe  of  the  unlearned,  ought  not  much  rather 
to  be  explained  in  their  moft  eafy  and  obvious  fenfe, 
than  to  fpread  fo  many  and  fuch  hard  figures  of 
fpeech  almofc  all  over  the  Bible,  the  Old  Teflament 
and  the  New,  without  evident  neceffity  :  and  it  is 
very  reafonable  to  believe,  that  had  this  evangelical 
writer  lived  in  an  age  when  the  dodrine  of  the  pre- 
exiftence  of  the  foul  of  Chrift  had  been  freely  pro- 
pofed  to  the  world,  he  would  have  embraced  it  with 
great  readinefs  and  plcafure. 

.  7.  Though  thefe  more  elevated  fentiments  and 
bolder  expreffions  which  I  have  cited  from  fo  great 
an  author  are  by  no  means  the  ftandard  of  truth,  nor 
indeed  can  I  follow  him  in  fome  of  thefe  fublimities, 
neither  do  I  cite  his  magnificent  expreffions  concern- 
ing the  Man  Jefus  Chrift,  nor  his  expofitions  of  fcrip- 
ture  as  a  fufficient  proof  of  what  1  have  advanced  j 
yet  it  will  appear  to  the  world  by  this  colledion,  that 
I  have  not  ventured  upon  fuch  expofitions  of  the  Bi- 
ble, nor  fuch  exalted  fentiments  and  language  con- 
cerning Chrift's  human  nature,  without  an  honoura- 
ble precedent.  If  I  miftake,  yet  I  may  reafonably 
hope  that  while  I  have  erred  and  wandered  under 
fuch  a  leader,  and  in  fo  good  company,  the  cenfurc 
will  be  but  light  and  gentle,  fince  moft  of  the  re- 
proaches which  may  be  caft  on  me  on  this  account 
will  fall  heavy  on  this  venerable  author,  whofe  name 
has  been  honourable,  and  his  praife  great  amoag  the 
churches. 


FINIS. 


■('       < 


